


The Space Between Chaos and Shape

by DarkTidings



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Child Abuse, F/M, Gen, HP: EWE, M/M, Multi, Original Character(s), Parents & Children
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-27
Updated: 2014-07-18
Packaged: 2017-12-09 18:01:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 24,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/776365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkTidings/pseuds/DarkTidings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the bloody aftermath of the final battle, Luna Lovegood draws upon family magic and her own visions of paths to come to save Severus Snape. As Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy join her to give their old Potions Master a just reward for all he gave up for the wizarding world, will the secrets they protect stay safe? DH-compliant, ignores epilogue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Undoing Past Wrongs

_"In the space between chaos and shape there was another chance."_

_― Jeanette Winterson, The World and Other Places: Stories_

For someone who had lived a life of glimpsing the chaos that lurked outside the careful order of people's lives, the scene in the Great Hall after the final battle was chaos personified. The Hall held so many extremes of emotion.

Some wailed their grief over lost loved ones with loud, anguished cries, giving voice to an unbearable ache too overwhelming to be contained in their fragile, mortal frames. Others shed near-silent tears, from pain no less soul-wrenching than those who were vocal in their mourning, but unable to howl out in the same fashion.

At the opposite spectrum of those overcome with pain were those whose relief at being reunited with loved ones led them to guilty smiles and carefully hushed laughter. Most of those clutched at each other with a disbelieving sort of desperation, as if afraid letting go would mean the ones they embraced would vanish in a puff of uncatchable smoke.

There were many emotions spread between joy and loss, and of those, the young woman could understand numbness the most. Their world lay in flux, with its greatest terror gone, yet so much of the world destroyed in the process. Wrapping one's mind around the massive task of recovery was a bit beyond anyone who sheltered under the fractured ceiling that no longer displayed the outside sky.

Hidden in a corner, few saw her as she held to the shadows to slip out of the Hall. She had no family here to clutch her to them in joyful relief, and those she loved as friends were otherwise occupied in mourning the bright lives taken from them today. She was not saddened by the fact on this particular day, because it meant that she could set about the task she'd set herself more easily without anyone to assist her, or worse, try to stop her.

Her feet tread so softly in the deserted corridors that she wondered briefly if this was like being a ghost, and she actually pinched herself just as a reminder that she did still draw breath. The silliness of the action made her smile sadly for a time when such little things were the province of children, before she and so many of the other children of Hogwarts had grown up too fast and too harshly in a world gone dark with war and terror.

She paused at the bottom of the spiral staircase to the Headmaster's office to run a hand over the half-destroyed gargoyle that no longer had enough of his magical life to do his duty. He'd be repaired in time, she knew, but for now, the too-still staircase must be climbed like any sort of stairs. For the first time, she worried about what she might find at the top.

It turned out to be a needless worry. However the gargoyle had taken damage, it hadn't been for anyone to ransack the office that held the portraits of those who'd led Hogwarts through the years. Giving a relieved little sigh, she looked for the most recent portrait, meeting the familiar blue gaze without hesitation. He seemed about to speak, but she shook her head. In time, she'd want to speak to Dumbledore, but not on this day, when two men he'd sent to their deaths in the name of his Greater Good were prominent in her mind. He didn't deserve to know that Harry lived.

With a flick of her wand, all the portraits were covered with gauzy draperies, obscuring the view of the men and women so they could not gossip about her task in their domain. Only one portrait remained uncovered; its painted occupant not yet moving. By now, the ebony-haired man should have come to portrait-life to take his place among the painted leaders of Hogwarts. The fact that he remained still and unmoving told her that the dreams that had plagued her last autumn were far closer to becoming true than she's thought they would.

All the variables to save Severus Snape had been peeled away as he marched knowingly toward the fate set for him in his lifelong effort to redeem him for a tragic teenage mistake. Everyone else assumed he was dead, beyond hope or help, but from beyond the chaos flickering into the world, there remained one last possibility. She placed a hand against the cool stone of the castle wall beside the unmoving portrait and made her request, feeling the warmth that was Hogwarts answer in her own fashion. In the space of a blink, the portrait was gone, hidden into whatever nook the castle deemed appropriate for as long as necessary.

Dumbledore's second chances were full of pain and heartache. Hogwarts would do her lost boy a better turn at that.

Pale fingers searched the drawers of the Headmaster's desk, as she hoped she'd find the needful item here the same as it had been in those determined, repetitive dreams. A smile closer to the dreamy ones of her girlhood crossed her face when her fingers closed around the golden chain of the Time Turner. That secured, she slipped into the private quarters and acting on instinct, gathered and shrunk items that would not be missed, but would be important for the man she was determined to save.

Her tasks done, she checked her other supplies, both medical and more mystical, and then tugged a silvery cloak from her satchel. Harry hadn't thought twice when she'd asked to borrow it, trusting her implicitly with one of his greatest treasures. She figured if he knew what task she'd be putting it to, he'd find it worthwhile.

Her trip back through the corridors was even more ghostly than the first, covered under the fabric that had served Harry so faithfully for so long that it retained some of his scent. It made her think of rainstorms and chocolate, with perhaps a bit of broom polish thrown in for good measure.

The tunnel still held up, unprotected now due to damage to the Whomping Willow, and Luna hoped on one else had discovered the professor before she got there. Granted, she had the Time Turner, but it'd be harder to do what she needed to be done if a friend or foe was in the picture. They might not approve of the visions she'd been given from beyond chaos on how to fix this significant tragedy of the war.

But luck held with her, perhaps finally deciding to grace the dark man with something other than pain or sorrow. She fell to her knees beside him, wand out to run medical scans to tell her just how much had to be healed and how much could be left to the obscure potion from her family's grimoire.

The poison had nearly left his system. She saw no signs of a bezoar and could only surmise that he'd exposed himself to the snake's venom periodically enough to develop a sort of immunity. He was one of the strongest wizards of their time, even if few were honest enough to acknowledge the depths he held. With her first concern mostly settled, she set to casting sing-song little healing spells she'd also memorized from her family grimoire. The tearing damage at his throat and collarbones was too much even for the rare spells, and she tucked her wand behind her ear with a sigh.

"Well, professor, it seems we do have to go to that one final plan, and should you ever remember what I've done, or someone tell you, I hope that you know that I do this in faith that no one should ever have been asked to give absolutely everything to save our world. Even Harry carried a lighter load than you do." She kissed the man's forehead, disregarding the filth and blood, and then brought out a crystal vial that held the blood potion which would give Severus Snape a true second chance.

It took some maneuvering due to the wounds to his neck, but she managed to get the unconscious, mostly comatose man to swallow her concoction. Retrieving her wand, she drew a ritual circle around them that she'd seen only in the dusty tome of her family's magic. But she knew she was taking the right steps to rectify wrongs. As the circle's completion threw a band of golden light around them, Luna hummed softly, caught somewhere between spell singing and general happiness that what she foresaw was coming to pass. Her voice rose in spell song at last, words not in the dry Latin or bastardized English taught for spells at Hogwarts, but a language of her ancestors, who hadn't been entirely human despite the pureblood status of her family.

As the final note was sung, she pressed a gentle kiss over each of Snape's closed eyes and finished with one to his too-cold lips. Light sparked from them both at that final contact, swirling around them in a whirlwind of golden motes and joyful noise that did not come from a human throat.

Luna knew her plea had been heard, that the ritual was successful, when the man before her began to slowly become younger. First the silver disappeared from his dark locks, followed quickly by the lines that had prematurely aged his face. The reintroduction of youth to the man flowed over him like water until soon he was losing height and weight, his face reverting to what Luna thought he might have looked like when he was her age. She'd have caressed that teenage face that hadn't yet made all the bad mistakes, but she knew there was yet more to come.

Smaller and smaller Severus Snape became, regressing through a thin, half-starved childhood into a toddlerhood and finally to a delicate infancy that made the blonde woman want to cry. When the ritual stopped at last, she saw the man as he'd entered the world, and her heart ached anew. Even being born hadn't been on his side, as it was immediately obvious the man had been a sickly, premature baby.

But already some of the ritual's effects were showing. The baby's skin was no longer sallow, nor his nose showing any signs of becoming the prominent hook it had always been. Her blood had been part of the ritual, and she'd given of her essence to craft the potion that had begun the ritual.

Taking a soft bundling cloth from her satchel, she gently cleaned the newborn and wrapped him tightly. He made no sound other than to breath unevenly. A softly spoken charm caused her to giggle slightly as it took effect, and just in time at that. The ebony-haired baby gave a mewling cry, and without a second thought, Luna unlaced her blouse and guided the baby to nurse.

Humming as she nursed the baby once known as Voldemort's right hand man and yet the Order's most valuable spy, Luna began to make plans on how she was going to make sure that this time, the man who'd sacrificed everything grew up happy and loved.

Sounds from the tunnel caused her to cast a silencing spell and draw the Invisibility Cloak over them. There were very few who needed to know what she'd done today, especially since the blood magic had been either illegal or so very close to it that she'd have likely ended up on the cell next to her father in Azkaban if found out by the wrong sort.

But the visitor from the tunnel wasn't the wrong sort at all, and Luna watched unseen as Harry surveyed the empty room with its bloodstained floor and dropped to his knees with a sob. "I can't even give you a proper burial," he choked out and the time for hiding was gone.

Luna drew aside the Cloak and smiled reassuringly as Harry took in the baby nursing at her breast.

"Is that him?" he asked. He stepped forward, two fingers tracing the baby's dark hair and pale skin as if he couldn't resist touching.

She nodded. "It's a permanent change. He's no longer the war hero we knew. But this way, he'll get the chance to have a true childhood and find happiness instead of living with all the dark deeds the world forced upon him.

"I'll help you," Harry declared, and she believed him. She had a feeling Harry would forsake his own happiness to ensure this child grew up properly this time, so it didn't surprise her when he declared, "he'll need a father and a mother, Luna."

"That would be the ideal, Harry, but I don't give up much to become his mother. You have your Ginny and the Weasleys."

Harry shook his head. "Ginny and I are near strangers to each other after this past year. And I can't stay away from this, so you're stuck with me."

She gave him one of her dreamiest smiles, not seeing his declaration as one of couple hood, but rather co-parenting. "Alright. We need to get him far away from here, Harry, if we're going to make him our child in the eyes of the world and no one question that."

"I'll take you both to Grimmauld Place. Kreacher's loyal to me now, and he'll help me tighten the wards to make you both safe."

Luna nodded in assent and left him to tidy the room of any evidence of her ritual, leaving behind only the debris of the attack and that Voldemort himself had briefly headquartered himself there.

They almost made a clean getaway from the Shrieking Shack, Luna and baby mostly hidden under the Invisibility Cloak, when another crawled out of the tunnel and they found themselves staring into the shocked face of Draco Malfoy.


	2. Family Choices

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry, Luna, and Draco sort out their new family dynamics...

Harry's wand was on the blond in a heartbeat, even though he was reasonably certain the time he needed to be so wary of the other man was long past. But with Luna and the baby under his care, he was leaving nothing to chance.

It seemed he was right about Draco's intentions, because the blond backed up until he met solid wall. He threw his hands out in a gesture of supplication, giving Harry time to notice the tear tracks on his face. "I just wanted to see him one last time," Draco managed, and his voice held much of the same sort of pain Harry had heard from the Weasleys in regard to poor lost Fred.

"Snape was important to you," Harry stated, although his tone was more questioning than certain.

Draco nodded. "Of course he was. He was my godfather, after all." His voice cracked as he slid to the dirty floor, back still against the wall. He stared at the immense bloodstain, too thick and viscous to bleed into the wood's grain completely. When he spoke again, his voice sounded more like a lost, broken child than a teenager. "Do you know what happened to his body?"

Glancing to where he knew Luna hovered under his Cloak, he wished he could see her and get her input on what to do now. The more people who knew the secret of what happened to Severus Snape, the more dangerous it would be. But of all the people in the world, Draco Malfoy was the one most likely to be utterly devoted to Snape. After all, the man had killed his own mentor to avoid that blood staining his godson's hands.

"If I tell you what we've done with him, would you take an Unbreakable Vow about it?" he asked at last. He expected the blond to refuse, as he knew all too well the dangers of such a Vow, but instead, Draco nodded in agreement.

"I'll do anything, just to know for sure. Otherwise I'll dream that Death Eaters found him and desecrated his body. He doesn't deserve that!"

"I agree." Apparently, so did Luna, because she'd swept back the Cloak to reveal both herself and her precious bundle before Harry had time to ask her to do so.

"Hello, Draco." She gave him one of the dreamy smiles that Harry liked so much. "It seems you've accepted your part in our little family too. I'd dreamed you would, but it doesn't always come true on everything."

"Will you be our bonder?" Harry asked Luna, crossing the room to offer his hand to help Draco up from the floor.

She shook her head. "There is no need for such dangerous promises amongst family, Harry, and our Draco has the same devotion we do for the baby."

Regardless of Luna's confidence, Harry kept a hand on Draco's forearm as the bewildered blond looked from him to Luna. "Family? What does that have to do with Severus, and why is Lovegood carrying a baby around a filthy place like this?"

Harry waited for Luna to explain, but she only smiled, leaving it to him. He signed and led Draco closer to the baby in her arms. "Take a look at him. Does he look familiar?"

He knew when realization hit from the gasp from the other man as he studied the pale skin, dark hair, and impossibly dark eyes of the baby as the infant blinked awake to watch him. "Is that Severus? But how?"

"Magic, of course." Luna absorbed the exasperated look Harry shot her with ease of habit. "I could not heal the damage the snake left, but since he was still alive despite all the odds, I used a bit of my family's magic to give him a second chance at life."

Draco's hand shook as he reached out to touch the baby's cheek. "Can it revert?"

Luna shook her head. "It is a permanent condition, which is why such magic is only used in the direst of circumstances. To the world, he is my son now."

"Ritual blood magic?"

Harry was impressed at how easily Draco made the leaps of logic that would have taken him a few more moments to sort out. Then again, he supposed that was one difference between being raised in the wizarding world and discovering it at age eleven.

"Mmm hmm." She let the baby wrap tiny fingers around her finger. "Much like the blood adoption rituals pureblood families used to use to cover up an infidelity or two so their family tapestries didn't display their true bloodlines to the world."

"Those are outlawed," Draco said weakly, glancing to Harry as if wanting to know how the Chosen One could be standing there calmly listening to one of his closest friends discuss illegal magic.

"There are a lot of old family magics that aren't strictly legal anymore, Draco. It doesn't mean they aren't used, or that there are times where they are justified. I was willing to take the risk to give Severus the life he deserved, and if that can't be in England, then I've always wanted to explore places like Australia and Brazil."

"What's your part in this, Potter?"

Harry shrugged. "To support Luna's choice. If I'd had the same resources, I'd have done the same thing. Snape took worse risks for me, so I owe him a few in return." He turned to Luna. "You said he's your son now. Is there any way to use that same sort of ritual to ensure he has a father in more than name as well?"

"Of course." She smiled at both men. "You already offered, but Draco should have the option as well. I can do it for either of you, but not both."

Conceding to her choice, Harry glanced to Draco, who swallowed heavily before answering. "I'd give anything to do that, Lovegood, to be a father for him. But the odds are too high on me going to Azkaban for me to take that risk. Even if I don't go, he'd have to grow up with the tarnish of me as a father." His grey eyes left the baby to study the floor as his voice fell. "The Malfoy name doesn't deserve him." When he looked back up, his expression was fiercely protective toward the baby. "Potter can protect him now in ways I could never dream of doing."

"Perhaps." Luna looked back and forth between the two young men and finally nodded. "It's decided then. Harry will be his father, but Draco, you'll be his godfather. It's oddly appropriate, I think."

Harry surprised himself by nodding even as Draco tried to shake his head. "She's right. I can't think of anyone I'd trust more as his godfather, and even if you did go to Azkaban, I didn't turn out so bad for having a godfather who'd spent time there." The blond's gaze on him was almost too intense in its gratitude, and he wasn't certain whether it was for insisting on him as godfather or for stating having an ex-convict godfather hadn't done him harm. Perhaps it was a bit of both.

"Besides, something tells me that's not your fate," Luna added. She reached out to pat Draco's cheek gently, and the Slytherin surprised Harry by not flinching away or rejecting her touch. If anything, he seemed to welcome the contact. It spurred him to speak up.

"You saved my life, at the Manor that day. I'll speak to the Minister and the Wizengamot both," he offered. He realized he'd have done that anyway, but now it was even more important that he speak up not just on Narcissa's behalf. He wasn't sure he had the stomach for Lucius, but the broken man in the Great Hall was not the Malfoy who'd followed Voldemort, so he suspected he would.

"You shouldn't waste your political pull on me," the blond said, his voice softening and taking on that lost little boy quality Harry had seen in his expression earlier. He was leaning into Luna's touch, meeting her eyes instead of Harry's.

"Your heart was never in all of this." Harry reached for Draco's left forearm and shoved the sleeve back easily, since the cuff button on his shirt was missing. He tapped the Dark Mark. "He threatened your mother. I'd have taken it myself if I'd had the choice between that or my mum dying."

"Me too."

Harry wasn't sure which declaration of joining Voldemort shocked the blond most, his or Luna's. They'd both lost their mothers far too young. It didn't shock him a bit to realize they both understood making the choice to save a mother's life.

"Enough discussion. You're godfather and not going to prison if I can do anything about it," Harry said. Realizing they'd delayed far too long when anyone could come down the tunnel if they recalled Snape's body needed recovering, he decided to take charge. "Kreacher!"

The house-elf popped into instance with far more grace than he'd attended summonings prior to Harry finishing Regulus' final task. "Yes, Master Harry?"

"I need you to take Miss Lovegood and the baby to Grimmauld Place," he instructed. "Is it safe for the baby to travel with you?" The old house-elf nodded. "Good. Then take them there and don't let anyone in except me until I tell you otherwise."

Kreacher took Luna's wrist when she offered her hand to him, and with a soft pop, the trio disappeared.

Taking a deep breath, Harry turned to Draco, realizing they had one possibly crucial task left to them. "Will normal magical fire remove all trace of whether or not a body was here?" he asked. He seemed to have a vague memory of Dudley watching telly and some crime drama stating it was almost impossible for a normal fire to burn hot enough to erase traces of an adult human's body.

The blond shook his head. "Auror spells are too complex."

Sighing that the easiest route was out, the black-haired youth studied the old house for a moment. "What about fiendfyre?"

"Nothing survives that."

The grief in his voice made Harry flinch. Crabbe had been his friend after all. "Hermione said it was too dangerous for her to try, but I think we have to."

"It had better by you, Potter. I don't think I'd have the control to keep it contained."

"What's important to containing it?" Remembering the living inferno unleashed in the Room of Requirement, Harry had no wish to accidentally unleash such a force outside such magical confinement.

"Complete focus and determination. Failing that, a magically imbued stone room."

"Well, no magical stone rooms around here, so we'd best hope my luck holds out." He motioned at the door. "Best if we're outside if I'm burning the whole building down."

Draco followed him out, seeming to need distance between him and the place where the man known as Severus Snape had met his end. Harry couldn't blame him. Despite what they were doing to give the baby new life, the man he became would not be Snape.

"If this goes wrong, Malfoy, get the hell out of here and figure out a way to get a message to Luna. Get them out of the country any way you can. Your mother too."

"Draco."

Startled, Harry glanced to the other man. "What?"

"If we're doing this, being family like Lovegood... Luna… said, then I'm Draco, not Malfoy."

Harry stuck out his hand. "Hello, Draco. I'm Harry."

With hope in his eyes for the first time since Harry had seen him enter the Shrieking Shack, Draco took Harry's hand and shook it.


	3. From Three Secretkeepers to Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The young protectors of baby Severus settle in at Grimmauld - and are joined by an unexpected assistant in their secret.

Draco was nibbling disinterestedly at a piece of toast while watching Luna happily eating a mixture of eggs, chopped up sausage, and two kinds of jam. He didn't find the combination appealing, but somehow the contented sounds she made for each bite seemed fascinating. The baby sat on the table just in front of them, swaddled snuggly in a blanket and tucked into a carrying basket. He was awake but quiet, although the blond knew from the past two days spent at the house that it probably wouldn't last much longer.

Harry was rummaging through cabinets, calling out instructions to the house-elf. As far as Draco could tell, he was taking some sort of inventory, since periodically household items would be pitched into a bin that the elf vanished when it filled up. With any luck, he was planning on sending the elf for supplies, because their current diet of breakfast foods and sandwiches was getting a bit old. None of them really dared show up in public right now, and Harry had only grabbed the basics on his one trip out to a Muggle supermarket he knew well enough to apparate to.

The sound of the floo chiming from the first floor drawing room made them all startle a little. Harry cast a cleaning charm on himself. "I'll go see who it is. Remember our safety plan."

Draco stood and put himself between the table and doorway, wand at ready, as Kreacher stepped up to place one hand on the baby's basket and another on Luna's thin wrist. Harry had tightened the security wards on the place as best he could, but short of recasting a fidelius charm, there were still too many who knew where the house was and might be able to overpower the wards.

He felt himself relax somewhat when Harry called down the stairs that they had a welcome visitor, but he didn't lower the wand completely until Harry entered the kitchen with Narcissa Malfoy trailing behind him. He noted that the house-elf hadn't yet stepped away from his charges.

"Mother? Why are you here?" he asked. She'd sent him to Grimmauld Place with Harry when they'd returned to the Great Hall after destroying the Shrieking Shack. She'd felt being in the Savior's home would much improve his chances against being arrested in the first place.

"Your father decided it was better politics for me to be here as well." She offered a bulky letter carrying the Malfoy seal to Harry. "He wishes to rescind our marital contract."

"What?" The startled exclamations from both young men caused the baby to begin crying, and Luna gently shook loose Kreacher's hold to pick up the baby and settle him to nurse.

"Simple politics, my dragon." The elegant blond woman took a seat across from Luna at the table, studying the baby for a moment before continuing. "Harry's the Head of House Black now. If he agrees to rescind the marital contract, it means that legally neither of us was ever a Malfoy."

Draco nodded slowly, starting to see his father's plan. "And it would make us direct members of Harry's family, instead of cousins of sorts."

Harry looked puzzled, but broke open the seal on the letter and began scanning it. "I assume a closer relationship to me means the Aurors are less likely to arrest you two?"

"Precisely, Mr. Potter. The Malfoy matriarch and the heir might fall prey to nasty politics, no matter how much testimony you give for us. But taking away the Chosen One's Black relatives is a bit more problematic. It also gives the Wizengamot a loophole to save face."

Draco sat down next to Luna with a sigh, watching as Harry frowned over some aspect of the letter and its enclosed contract dissolution. He decided to add to his mother's explanation. "It also means that any assets Mother took into the marriage return to the Black family. It should list that out in there somewhere."

Nodding, the dark-haired wizard held out a piece of parchment to Narcissa. "Can you review this, Mrs. Malfoy, and tell me if it's everything you're entitled to have? I don't know where to find the Black originals quickly to compare, although I can't see him cheating you out of anything if he's taking steps this drastic to protect you."

"Call me Narcissa, Harry. It seems Malfoy isn't mine to claim any longer, and the world would see it as strange if you called me Miss Black." She took the parchment and scanned it, although Draco would bet what little he had to call his own that she knew everything that should be on the list by heart. "It's all here. A quarter of a million galleons for dowry and the property in Ireland, plus numerous items of furniture and jewelry as listed. Of the two house-elves I took with me, one has died of old age, but the other has borne an elfling that is mine by right of the mother."

"What about the elfling's father?" Harry asked, and Draco almost smiled. It was so like him to think of the child elf above the money and property that would essentially be his if he ratified the contract he held.

Narcissa smiled a little wanly. "Her father was that elf you helped free."

Draco was uncertain why Harry looked suddenly stricken, but before he could ask, the other man was back to the contract's terms. "This says that because he's dissolving the contract, he has to double your dowry on return and to provide an equal amount for any offspring now part of the Black family."

"Black marital contracts have always been very rough on any family repudiating them," Narcissa explained.

"Will he even be able to cover these amounts?"

"Easily, even after the Dark Lord ravaged the fortune. It would have been higher if he'd married into the direct line, but I was the youngest daughter of a younger son."

Harry snorted. "Not sure I want to know what these amounts would be if you'd been Sirius' sister instead of his cousin then." He sat down and summoned a quill and inkwell. "I should probably get this sorted before the Ministry decides to start freezing Death Eater assets, right?"

Both Malfoys nodded, although Draco was surprised to see Luna nod as well. She smiled gently at them all. "It's easier on the goblins if you sign before. They'd manage to honor the contract even afterward, but the red tape required would make them very cranky," she explained.

With a sigh, Harry signed his name and titles and seemed startled when the parchments magically duplicated and one copy instantly disappeared. Narcissa took a deep breath and removed her wedding bands with a less than steady hand, the only sign of emotion Draco had seen his mother show since she'd arrived. He'd never seen her without the two rings, and by right she'd get to keep them, but he figured the politics of the matter made it smarter to tuck the jewelry away for now.

"My elves have packed everything listed in my dowry as well as all personal items belonging to Draco and me. If I may be permitted to call them?" she asked. Harry nodded, and she called out decisively. "Lannie! Netta!"

Two small house-elves popped into the kitchen, each carrying a small, lumpy bag Draco knew carried the shrunken belongings his mother had had them pack before flooing over. The older elf, Lannie, was starting to be elderly for an elf. She'd been his mother's nanny elf and Draco's as well. Spotting the baby, her big eyes lit up, but her attention went to her mistress for instructions. When Narcissa looked to Harry instead, the elves did as well. Draco felt it would take some getting used to, seeing his mother defer to Harry instead of his father.

Since Harry was looking a bit puzzled by the attention, Draco prompted him. "Where do you want them to unpack or store what they've brought?"

Looking sheepish, the other wizard ran a hand through his messy hair. "The house is still quite a mess, Narcissa. You've a choice of bedrooms. I've got the first floor one." Draco remembered him insisting that he take that one as the first line of defense against intruders who came in via floo or the front door. "Luna and the baby are staying in the nursery on the second floor and Draco's up on the fourth in Regulus' old room."

Draco hadn't told his mother anything about the baby's parentage, but caught the small arch of an eyebrow when Harry described Luna as sleeping in the nursery. He really shouldn't be so far away from Luna but he'd felt it was more proper than staying on the same floor. Something about his Slytherin cousin's old room had appealed, so when Harry seemed amused by the idea, he'd chosen it despite the number of stairs between him and the living areas of the house.

"I'll settle on the second floor as well. We ladies should stick close together in a house full of males," Narcissa said after appearing to think the matter over. "Do you mind if I send Netta back to the Manor for a quick trip, Harry? I didn't have them pack Draco's baby things, but those might see some use here rather than getting swept into Ministry confiscation."

"That'd be wonderful," Harry said. Draco knew his grateful smile wasn't feigned. Since they'd arrived in the grubby house, they'd merely transfigured the existing furniture into baby things. All the nappies and tiny gowns the baby wore were similarly transfigured, mostly since none of them were entirely sure of what needed purchasing even if Harry slipped out to shop in a Muggle area. Narcissa quietly ordered Lannie to turn over her bag to Netta and to retrieve the needed items from the Manor attics. The house-elf popped away instantly.

"I'll show you the way, Mother," Draco started, before shaking his head ruefully. "I don't suppose you really need an escort in this house, do you?"

She actually smiled. "Not likely, my dragon. I'll get things settled and be back down." With that, she swept out of the room, Netta trailing behind her.

"Mother? Is something wrong?" With Harry back to his inventory and cleaning out and Luna immersed in something she was writing now that the baby was asleep again, Draco was the first to notice Narcissa had returned downstairs.

"Perhaps." Her gaze went from Harry, who'd stopped his task at the sound of Draco's voice, to Luna to the baby. "I think I need to know a little more about our family situation before the Ministry comes trying to verify our status here."

Draco was surprised when both Harry and Luna looked to him. Taking that as an unofficial election as spokesperson, he made a calculated decision that his mother needed to know the unvarnished truth. If she'd thrown her lot back in as a Black, she'd protect the little family at all costs, and truthfully, they needed the depth of knowledge she had to ensure everything was legal. So he explained what had been set in motion by Luna and by the time his tale was done, she had stepped forward to trace the tiny features of the newborn.

"What color are his eyes?" she asked at last.

"They turned like mine when we did the paternity part of the adoption," Harry said.

Narcissa nodded slightly. "I'll miss those dark eyes of his, but I think he'd have liked having the same eyes your mother had." She raised her gaze to study the three teenagers long enough even Luna began to squirm a bit. "You've skipped an important step to him being truly accepted though."

"What?" Harry sounded a bit panicked at the thought of missing out, but Draco thought he knew what they'd missed out on.

"Unwed parents aren't very common in the wizarding world," he said, a bit upset with himself for not thinking of that sooner. "Granted, you're Harry Potter and that'll go a long way, but there will be some who will bully him for his parents not being married."

Harry sputtered. "I can't just make Luna marry me for the sake of making other people happy."

"I wouldn't mind being married, Harry, especially if it makes our family safer and happier." Luna's sweet smile directed at Harry made Draco feel a twinge of unwelcome jealousy.

"Are you certain?" he asked, coming to settle in the chair next to Luna and taking one of her hands in both of his. She nodded and Harry turned to Narcissa and Draco. "But wouldn't getting married after the fact be a problem too?"

Draco shook his head. "It's not unusual for babies to arrive before the formal wedding, especially for betrothed couples. It provides proof the marriage will provide heirs as needed."

Luna hummed happily. "We'll need an official to marry us. Narcissa and Draco can be our witnesses."

Looking a big stunned by her easy acceptance, Harry looked thoughtful. "Kingsley's acting minister. If he would do it, no one would really question it, right?"

At the nods from the trio of blondes in his kitchen, Harry stood. "Alright. I'll send word to Kingsley and we'll work on getting the house presentable."

Still a bit bemused that Harry had accepted the idea about marrying Luna without much of an argument, Draco volunteered to take Netta and work on the ground floor. If they were having a wedding, he didn't want it to happen in a house looking only a step or two better than the abandoned Shrieking Shack had. His father had tried to make up for all his mistakes by protecting Draco and his mother at all costs, and he wasn't about to reject Lucius' sacrifice of having his own family by letting this one start off on bad footing.


	4. Names - and Motherly Fussing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A name is decided for baby Severus, and Narcissa finds a motherly role toward Luna.

Tapping at the window high in the wall of the kitchen drew Luna's attention, and she finished tucking the baby in his small basket before twitching her wand to give the owl access. It flew to land on the table, sticking a leg out imperiously at her. She fished an owl treat out of a pocket and gave it to the owl before untying the message from its leg. It hooted grumpily and flew back out the window before she could offer water or additional treats. Shrugging, she turned the message in her hands, noting the Ministry seal but surprised it was addressed to her instead of one of the others in the household.

Curious, she plopped into a chair and broke the seal, skimming the contents quickly. Her eyes filled with happy tears as she clutched the parchment to her chest.

"Luna? Are you alright?"

She turned to face Draco, swiping at the tears on her face before accepting the handkerchief he offered. He'd gotten more used to saying her given name, without the former hesitation on the first syllable. "Very good news. They've found my father."

He looked a bit puzzled and she remembered he probably didn't know Xenophilius had arrested for failing to turn Harry and the others over. "He's been in Azkaban since just before the New Year."

Draco blanched. "Oh. I'm sorry, Luna."

"Don't be. You didn't put him there." She gave him a sunny smile that brightened when he smiled hesitantly in return. "He's at St. Mungo's now, but they think he'll be released in about a week."

"Will he come here?"

Luna hadn't really thought that far ahead yet. "I suppose he'll have to. Our house was destroyed around the time he was arrested." She'd slipped home once, after going to Shell Cottage, to salvage what she could, especially from the hidden room in the basement that had contained the things she'd inherited from her mother's side of the family. They were safe with Bill and Fleur for now, but she needed to retrieve them soon. It wasn't good for family magicks to be outside a family residence for such a long time.

"I can get the house-elves to ready a room for him. Do you want him on the second floor with you or on the third floor for privacy? The second floor's mostly redone anyway." It had surprised Luna and Harry both when Draco had thrown himself into the house cleaning and renovation, but Narcissa had simply shrugged and said men had to feel useful. With the older woman's help, Harry had managed to adjust the spells on the house, and the grime and decay didn't seem to creep back into areas Draco had organized.

"Third floor, I think. I suspect we'll have more than just Daddy coming to stay soon."

"More dreams?" he asked hesitantly.

She nodded. "Another baby in the house. The house seemed very happy, so I guess the baby's Harry's godson Teddy. He is a Black, after all."

A pop alerted them that Harry had apparated into the entryway upstairs. They'd agreed early on to only apparate there unless it was an emergency since everyone's reflexes were still too war-honed for being startled. The dark-haired wizard appeared in the kitchen doorway moments later, removing packages from the pockets of his Muggle trousers and placing them on the table. Since she had her wand out already, Luna did the honors of unshrinking the shopping.

Harry smiled at them both as he began rummaging in the bags. "I need to thank Narcissa for her foresight in having Muggle funds," he said to Draco. They'd deemed Gringotts still too public a venue for any of them to venture into, and Sirius had apparently removed Kreacher's access to the housekeeping fund before his death.

"My mother is a woman of many surprises, it seems." Rather than calling for one of the house-elves, Draco surprised Luna by standing and helping Harry sort out his purchases. As he studied the bags and boxes, she realized he was helping out of curiosity about the unfamiliar Muggle packaging.

Luna waited until they had put away the food before presenting the Ministry letter to Harry. He hugged her tightly. "Should we wait until he's home before Kingsley marries us?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I don't think we should delay. The Prophet is back up and running and I'm surprised reporters haven't tracked you down already."

The dark-haired man grinned. "Owl wards. I blocked all but a select few from getting through. The rest get returned with the owls looking confounded. It was a spell Hermione taught me when we were traveling, so owls couldn't find us."

"Besides, Harry, you already asked the Minister to come this evening," Draco reminded him.

"He'll be home in time for us to do the baby's Naming Ceremony, and I think he'll find that more important anyway." Luna's words caused Harry to turn to the baby's basket in its now-traditional spot on the table. He smiled softly as the baby blinked sleepily at them and twitched a tiny foot with his fingers.

"What's the name list down to?" he asked.

Luna looked at Draco, who sighed and pulled a scrap of parchment out of a pocket. "Honestly, how did I end up scribe to the baby name debate?" he asked, scanning the list. "You've eliminated all of my suggestions."

"That's because you kept adding things like Caelestinus. How on earth is he going to remember how to spell that?" Harry protested.

Draco snorted. "At least it's more unique than your name, Harry."

Their bickering made Luna laugh. You'd think they'd been friends for years instead of a mere week, just listening to them. Then again, she suspected Draco had needed a place to belong as badly as she had, for as long as she had, and Harry had a way of becoming the center of one's world. She enjoyed the contrast of dark and light hair as they bent over the list, letting them mull over the names for a moment. She had them memorized herself, including what they'd eliminated.

"I still like Narcissa's suggestion of Alexander best," she said at last.

They looked up at her, then at the baby, then back at the list. Harry spoke first. "Alexander Draco Potter?"

"It still sounds rather strange to hear my name combined with Potter, you know." But the blond looked thoughtful and nodded. "Alexander means defender, doesn't it? It suits who he was."

"And who he'll grow to be," Luna said quietly. They all three studied the newborn, who was finally losing the premature fragility he'd had after her ritual. It gave her a thrill of pride to realize her decision to nurse him was adding to his improved health. "If he could become who he did when the world was set against him, imagine what he'll be, with our family behind him."

"A force to be reckoned with." Narcissa's voice startled them all. She was dressed in a plain robe, but it didn't detract from her still regal beauty. "The parlor is ready for tonight, and Luna should take the chance to nap before the Minister arrives so she's not nodding off in the middle of the ceremony. I know we're doing this all informally, but there are still observances to be met to do it properly."

Luna moved to scoop up the baby, but Draco intervened. He was beginning to gain confidence in tucking the baby into one arm against his chest, slowly but surely. "Mother and I can look after him for the afternoon."

"I could use a good nap," she agreed.

Narcissa focused on Harry next. "You should spend some time in the library studying the book about marriage rituals I found for you, Harry. Private ceremony or not, you owe it to Luna to do it properly, especially as head of two Houses."

As Luna headed for the stairs, she giggled at Harry's grimace. She didn't think he truly minded the studies on pureblood customs Narcissa had been assigning him, but after Narcissa had realized he'd signed the dissolution contract so swiftly mostly due to the careful instructions Lucius had included in a letter with it, she'd put her wand to work in the Black library and made sure Harry spent quite a bit of his time since filling in the blanks left by his Muggle upbringing.

Although if she were asked, Luna suspected the studying was to keep Harry's mind off the outside world and its pending funerals after his stricken reaction that same evening to the notices that had begun arriving for those who'd died at Hogwarts. Similarly, she thought the mother-and-son house renovations were to keep their own minds off the looming likelihood of Lucius being arrested and whether or not Draco would suffer the same fate.

But for now, Luna's focus was a well-deserved nap.

* * *

"Luna?"

Waking slowly, Luna stretched before rolling to look at Narcissa, who stood in the doorway to the nursery. The older woman was dressed impeccably in stylish silken robes and carried another set of robes over one arm. "I've come to help you get dressed. The Minister will be here in half an hour."

"Oh. Thank you." She reached out to take the robes and smiled happily. "These are beautiful."

Narcissa smiled. "I didn't think you'd have any dress robes, so Lannie altered something of mine for you. Blue to match your eyes seemed appropriate."

Carefully laying the dress robes on the bed, Luna tugged off the well-worn nightgown she'd donned for her nap, knowing she'd need to change from her every day wear anyway. She hadn't brought any of her own clothing to Grimmauld Place with her, since she'd arrived rather unplanned via Kreacher that first day. Rummaging in the attic had turned up a trunk of old clothing, which she'd happily mismatched in her usual fashion. Slipping into the silk robes, she gave them an experimental swirl and hummed before realizing she'd need her wand to fasten the buttons in the back.

"Allow me." She felt Narcissa's hands begin the task and felt tears prick at her eyes. It was a task usually done by a girl's mother, and Luna felt Kaija Lovegood's absence intensely for the first time in years. The other woman seemed to sense it and spoke. "I always wanted a daughter, so today, I hope you don't mind me standing in for your mother."

Taking a deep breath, Luna blinked the tears away. "I think she'd like that."

The simple task was easily completed and Luna was turned to face Narcissa, who slipped her wand from her sleeve. With a flick and a murmured spell, Luna's blonde tresses were gathered atop her head, leaving some to spill down her back. Narcissa presented her with a conjured mirror so she could admire the work.

"No makeup, I think. It doesn't suit you."

Luna studied her reflection, amazed at what a simple hairdressing spell could do. She touched her unadorned ears. She'd lost her earrings somewhere during the final battle and hadn't bothered replacing them. It seemed Narcissa had planned for this as well and presented her with a jewelry case. Opening it, Luna found a sapphire pendant and matching teardrop earrings. She met the older woman's gaze questioningly.

"They were part of my dowry, but they were my aunt Dorea's once. It seems fitting that you have them when you're marrying her grandson."

She'd not been able to find her mother's jewelry box after the destruction of her childhood home, so Luna's hands shook as she put on the earrings. After expecting to attend the ceremony in casual clothing with no family heirlooms at all, she felt overwhelmed and couldn't resist hugging Narcissa tightly after the older blonde fastened the necklace in place. The hug was returned with a bit of hesitancy and she remembered that the former Malfoy matriarch wasn't the physically demonstrative type a bit too late.

But as blue eyes met blue, there were smiles on both women's faces. Tonight's wedding might ignore a lot of pureblood custom both had been raised to at least know, if not follow, but it seemed the important bits regarding family were going to be present. It made Luna even more certain she'd made the right decision when she'd heeded the strange dreams that had led her down the path to this strange new family.

It was time to make it official.


	5. Mr. and Mrs. Potter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first outsider meets Alexander, as the Minister himself marries Harry and Luna.

Harry shifted from foot to foot nervously, tugging at the collar of the dress robes Draco had foisted on him with a gruff comment that his mother would be direly offended if he married in tattered Muggle clothing. His afternoon of studying had made him worry about fouling something up tonight. Luna was giving up so much to give the re-aged Severus a new chance at life, including a real wedding to someone she loved. He owed it to her to do this properly, and the studies Narcissa had set him to made him realize very acutely just how uneducated he was about wizarding custom despite seven years as a wizard.

"Stop fidgeting like a five-year-old, Harry."

Draco's tart tone made Harry flush, but he smiled sheepishly. "I know it's just us and Kingsley, but I don't want to do things wrong."

"Luna won't hold it against you." The blond lounged in one of the dining room chairs, feeding the baby with one of the bottles Luna had left in the cold cabinet for when she wasn't immediately available to feed him.

"I know. I just…" The rest of Harry's worries were cut off by the sound of apparition in the entrance hall, and he left Draco and the baby to step out to greet Kingsley.

The acting Minister didn't seem fazed that Harry met him with wand drawn and answered the security question with a quirk of a smile. "I see you haven't forgotten Mad-Eye's teachings," he stated.

Harry shrugged. "I've a family to protect, Kingsley."

"So you said in your letter. How are the two Blacks settling in?"

"We're all getting along quite well. Narcissa has been helping me fill in gaps in my wizarding education."

Kingsley chuckled. "I don't suppose you could have found a better teacher than a Black and former Malfoy for that." His expression turned solemn. "I've been able to dissuade the Wizengamot from any idea of arresting Narcissa, but I'll need you to come in to give testimony so they don't attempt the same for her son. They're willing to wait until after the funerals are all done, considering your ties to some of the remaining ones."

Harry's heart lurched at the reminder that he still had to watch Remus, Tonks, and Fred be laid to rest, but he forced the emotion away. It had no place in tonight's ceremony, and he felt they'd all understand. "And Lucius?"

"He's under house arrest until his trial. Things are so scrambled about what he did or didn't do since he was removed from Azkaban that the Wizengamot has decided not to risk imprisoning him prior to trial. Considering the abuses of the past few years, no one is sure if he's even actually guilty of escaping prison, either."

"Hopefully he'll submit to Veritaserum and save a lot of headache then," Harry suggested.

Kingsley nodded. "With any luck, he will. But I'm sure you didn't ask me over just to discuss Lucius. What was the favor you required, Harry? You know there's very little the wizarding government would deny you at this point."

The young man shook his head. "Not that big a favor, Kingsley, I promise. It's more of a personal one, and I figured it best you knew personally." He led the man into the dining room where Draco waited, knowing the moment the man saw the baby in the blond's arms by the small sound of surprise that escaped Kingsley. Taking the raven-haired baby in his arms, he turned him to face the Minister, knowing this was the first test of the baby's adopted parentage to an outsider.

"He has your eyes," Kingsley managed, deep voice solemn. "How did you manage to sire a child with all that happened this past year?"

The four human residents of Grimmauld Place had agreed on a story to explain the baby's existence, but lying to Kingsley made Harry uncomfortable. But it was essential to protecting the infant and giving him a normal life that no one else share in the secret. "There were a few times I needed inside information from Hogwarts. It was too dangerous to contact a Gryffindor, but they didn't watch other Houses as closely." He took a deep breath, meeting Kingsley's gaze evenly. "I didn't know she was pregnant until she went into labor after the battle at Hogwarts."

"So that's why you disappeared so thoroughly?" the dark man asked. Harry nodded, and Kingsley continued. "Who's his mother, Harry?"

"Luna Lovegood."

To Harry's surprise, the older man looked relieved. He wondered who had gone through Kingsley's mind as possibilities. Perhaps his championing of Narcissa and Draco had led the man to expect one of the Death Eaters' daughters. "And I assume the favor is to stand as official to marry you two?"

"Yes. We may have gotten things a bit out of order due to the war, but I don't want anyone thinking badly of Luna because of our son." It had gotten remarkably easy to refer to the baby as their son after Luna had insisted they do so regularly.

Kingsley reached out and took one of the baby's tiny, delicate hands in his fingers. "I'd be honored to. He's a bit on the small side, but considering where Miss Lovegood's been the last few months, I suppose we should be most grateful that they're both healthy."

The reminder of Luna's imprisonment in Malfoy Manor made Harry glance to Draco, who looked paler than normal. Harry decided to embellish their story a bit, remembering Luna saying Draco had usually been the one who'd brought food and water to the prisoners. "We can thank Draco for them doing as well as they have. He did his best to slip Luna extra food, and he helped keep it hidden from those loyal to Voldemort. It's why we're naming him godfather."

The Minister turned his dark gaze from the baby to Draco, expression stern and unwavering. Draco went utterly still under the scrutiny, but before Harry could intercede, Kingsley sighed softly. "I think the odds of sending a man to Azkaban who protected the wife and unborn child of the Savior are rather slim indeed."

Harry was surprised that the comment didn't sting. In the end, it was truthful in a different way. Draco was protecting Luna and the baby as best he could. If twisting the truth kept their family safe, then he'd live with it, even lie more if he had to. "We don't want to keep you all night, Kingsley. We've readied the parlor upstairs. Lannie!"

The elderly house-elf popped into the dining room, looking at them expectantly. "Are masters ready for mistresses?"

Nodding, Harry handed the baby carefully to Draco. "We'll meet them in the parlor." The house-elf popped away, leaving Harry to lead the other two men up the stairs and into the softly lit room.

"I see you've been busy sorting the place out," Kingsley commented, glancing curiously around the room. The house-elves had outdone themselves in redecorating under Draco and Narcissa's directives. Even Kreacher had cooperated. As a result, the parlor would have fit easily in any fancy home. It made Harry have hope for the rest of Grimmauld Place, since Narcissa knew the magic of the place that had opposed previous attempts by outsiders to change it.

"Narcissa knew the spells to stop the house from reverting any changes made. It seems the Blacks were paranoid about more than just security," he explained. Anything more he might have said was lost when he turned at a soft sound from the doorway.

Narcissa stepped into the room, moving to greet the Minister quietly before gesturing for both younger men to take their places. A flick of her wand started up a sweet, yet haunting, tune, and Harry turned again to the door. His breath caught as Luna stepped inside, moving in slow step to the music. He'd seen her dressed up before – both at Slughorn's party and at Bill and Fleur's wedding – but nothing had given her the ethereal quality the elegant blue robes did. His admiration must have been evident on his face, because Luna beamed happily at him as she reached his side and accepted his outstretched hand.

Remembering his reading, Harry lifted her hand to brush a kiss across the back of her knuckles and then tucked her small hand in the crook of his arm. He spotted the look of approval on Narcissa's face before he turned to Kingsley. As the dark man's deep voice began the ritualistic words for the ceremony, his worry that he would mess this up somehow dissipated, lost in the warmth of Luna's smile.

* * *

"I'll take him up to bed now," Luna said, motioning at the sleeping baby in Harry's arms.

After the ceremony, Kingsley had shared the celebratory meal with the little family, and after he had gone, they'd all lingered around the kitchen table. But now the baby had fallen asleep, and Luna herself looked worn out by the day. He stood, careful not to wake the child. "I'll carry him up for you."

She smiled and bid Draco and Narcissa good night before leading the way up the stairs to the second floor. As Harry carefully lowered the baby into the cot, she bustled around the nursery, tidying up. When she realized he was watching her, she laughed softly. "I haven't gotten used to the idea of house-elves yet. I think I offend poor Lannie's sensibilities by picking up after myself and Alexander."

Harry smiled, realizing that Luna was probably the only one fully comfortable with the child's new name. The rest of them all tended to call him just "the baby". "That makes two of us that frustrate house-elves then." He glanced around the room, frowning as he noticed the small bed she slept on. "Is that actually comfortable? We can find something better for you."

The blonde shrugged. "It's fine." She glanced around the room's plain walls. "But perhaps I might paint the walls in here to be more intriguing for a baby."

Remembering the mural Luna had had in her room at her now-destroyed home, Harry grinned. "That'd be perfect. Do you think you could paint his family here?"

"Of course. It'd be easier than my old room because I wouldn't be painting from memory."

The wistful expression made Harry wonder if Luna's summers had been as lonely as his, although in a different way. He'd have thought with the Weasleys nearby, she would have had at least Ginny to visit with, but now he was no longer sure if the youngest Weasley had been friends with Luna outside school. It wasn't like Luna had played Quidditch, which had seemed to be Ginny's summertime obsession. Impulsively, he reached out to envelope her in a hug, resting his cheek against hers. She returned the hug easily and then kissed his cheek as she stepped away to settle a blanket across the baby.

"I'll make arrangements for the paints you need once I go to Gringotts. Just make me a list," he told her. He headed for the door, realizing she probably wanted privacy to get changed into her pyjamas. But at the door, instead of the good night he'd intended, what came out was, "You were so beautiful tonight."

Luna looked up, startled, but gave him that gentle smile he liked so much. "I felt quite beautiful too." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "And Harry? I'm glad my first kiss came from you."

Remembering the gentle, chaste kiss he'd given her at the end of the ceremony, Harry felt his breath catch. Part of him was surprised no one had kissed Luna before. Even without Narcissa's assistance she was a very pretty girl. But he also knew how most of Hogwarts had viewed her – as Loony Lovegood, not his friend Luna – and his heart ached for her. He crossed the room to draw her back in his arms and before his own nerves could take over, kissed her sweetly.

When he drew away, and she was looking up at him with the same trusting blue gaze she'd always given him, he smiled. "I'm glad your first and second kisses came from me, Mrs. Potter."

She giggled softly. "Me too."

It was so adorable he kissed her again, keeping it brief since she did look quite exhausted. "I'll see you in the morning," he assured her, heading back from the door.

"Good night, Harry," she called softly to him. He bid her good night but paused a moment before closing the door, watch as she hummed to herself and danced to a tune only she could hear. He promised himself then and there that no matter what else came their way, he'd do everything in his power to make sure Luna never regretted marrying him to give Severus a proper family.


	6. A Motley Group

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teddy and Andromeda move in...

Draco watched as the baby's eyes slowly drifted closed as they rocked together. He'd brought the baby up to change his nappy and settle him for a nap while Luna tinkered in the kitchen. Just as he began to consider getting the baby to his cot, Narcissa entered the nursery, a brief smile flitting across her features as she saw him in the rocking chair.

"Harry just sent his Patronus to alert me that he will be bringing Andromeda and her grandson home with him shortly. I sent Netta to help them with the baby."

Draco stood slowly to ease the baby into the cot. "Luna dreamt it might happen."

It didn't seem to surprise Narcissa, but then again, after the tale of how Luna had orchestrated re-aging Severus, Draco wasn't sure anything about the young Mrs. Potter would surprise his mother. She glanced at Luna's things neatly settled near the twin bed in the nursery. "That was fine with just the four of us here, but if others realize the Potters sleep separately, it might cause some doubt on the validity of their marriage."

The observation made Draco glad they'd included Narcissa in the secret. "Would it be better to move them both to the master bedroom or move Luna's things to Harry's room? He was really insistent on being close to the ground floor in case there were intruders."

"Which makes sense when the wards weren't adjusted properly, but now, the chances that any intruder would get inside before we could all be waiting for them are rather slim." She thought it over for a moment and then called for a house-elf. "Lannie!"

The house-elf responded to the summons with a happy curtsey to her mistress. "Mistress needs Lannie?"

"Move Mistress Luna and Master Harry's things into the master bedroom on the third floor." Lannie beamed happily and with a snap of her fingers, Luna's belongings disappeared along with the elf.

"Makes me glad I finished off the master bedroom yesterday," Draco remarked. "I think we'll need to take out that bed anyway, to fit another cot in here for the other baby."

"Andromeda may want him to stay in the room with her instead of the nursery. We'll save further rearrangements until we know her preference."

It was probably undetectable to anyone else, but Draco frowned at the hesitant note in his mother's voice. It took him a moment to realize that Narcissa was nervous about her sister's arrival. He supposed it was natural, considering she'd not spoken to her sibling in over two decades. He reached out to take her hand, reassured when she squeezed his hand lightly before letting it go when they heard the crack of apparition in the entrance hall. Taking a deep breath, Draco followed his mother out to meet the woman who'd been expelled from the Black family before he was even born.

Even though he'd been warned of the physical similarities between his mother's older sisters, Draco still shivered when Andromeda looked up as they descended the stairs. The woman who had eyes for no one but Narcissa had a regal bearing that Bellatrix had lost to her madness. It surprised him because he'd have thought she'd have discarded that pureblood stance after so many years married to a Muggle-born.

"Rommie?" Narcissa's voice was hesitant as she stopped at the foot of the stairs, one elegant hand reaching out toward her sister.

Draco thought Andromeda was going to reject his mother's overture at first, as her expression turned icy for a moment, but then it melted just as Narcissa's did when she'd forgive any misbehavior on his part. She opened her arms, and the former Mrs. Malfoy flung herself into them as if she were a child, holding onto her sister as if Andromeda anchored her world. As both women started to cry in their embrace, he edged away uncomfortably, skirting around them to where Harry stood with a baby in arms.

"That went well," the brunet commented to Draco. He held the baby out. "Meet your cousin, Teddy."

The blond smiled at the baby, gasping when the child's dark hair morphed to silver-blonde. "He's like his mum, then?"

Harry nodded. "Changed his hair hours after birth. No one's entirely certain what color his hair really is, since he seems to change it to reflect who is holding or playing with him at the time."

Glancing back at the women who were still in a world of their own, Draco tilted his head toward the dining room. Harry took the hint, looking curiously at him as he shifted the baby to his shoulder.

"Mother had one of the elves move yours and Luna's things to the master bedroom. She thought it would look odd to others if you two had separate bedrooms."

"I suppose that makes sense. I can always transfigure a cot to sleep on in there so Luna has privacy to sleep." Harry sighed softly. "I feel guilty. Like I've taken away her choices."

"She made the choices first, Harry. We made ours to protect her and the baby, but she chose this path first." Draco paused, studying Harry and remembering how Luna interacted with him, feeling that fleeting stab of jealousy that struck him when he remembered that he was a bit of the odd one out in their original secret keeping triad. "And you should talk to her. From what I see, she's half in love with you already, if you'd just pay attention."

The other wizard looked startled at that revelation. "Are you sure about that?"

"You'd have to be blind to miss it." Thinking back to fifth year, that last year of anything close to childhood for him, Draco realized he'd seen the same depth of affection in Luna's gaze toward Harry even back then. "I think she's loved you for years, actually. She just isn't the sort to be pushy about it, not when you had your attention elsewhere."

"Damn." Harry ran a hand through his already messy hair. "I guess I really am blind to that sort of thing."

"You're utterly hopeless, you know. Just be careful, now that you know." Draco sighed. "She deserves you to feel more than friendship or obligation toward her." Merlin, who'd believe he was defending Luna Lovegood? But the young woman was family now, and she'd suffered too much in his own childhood home. He'd failed to do the right thing by her then, and he'd be damned if he failed her again after she'd rescued Severus from death and crafted a second chance for his godfather.

"If I ever hurt her, Draco, I give you permission to curse my balls off," Harry said solemnly.

"If you hurt her, that'll be the nicest thing I do to you," the blond declared. Hearing Luna singing as she climbed the stairs from the kitchen, he reached out to take Teddy from Harry. "You'd best go handle formal introductions for my aunt and the new Mrs. Potter."

Harry nodded and headed back into the entrance hall, leaving Draco to cuddle the Metamorphagus baby to his chest. Teddy was heavier than Alexander by quite a bit and more alert. He'd adapted quickly to Alexander but had thought his protectiveness was because of knowing the dark-haired baby was Severus. But standing there with a wiggly baby cousin who had changed his hair to imitate Draco's own made him realize his family loyalty had spread beyond their core little group. His mother had lost decades with her sister and Draco had never known this boy's mother, but those mistakes wouldn't be repeated with Teddy.

He was family, and if the war had taught him nothing else, it had confirmed for Draco that absolutely nothing else mattered more.

* * *

Dinner had been a fairly quiet affair. The two older women had conversed quietly, once Andromeda had been reassured that Harry and Draco had no problem sharing care of Teddy to allow her a meal in peace. Luna had followed her usual pattern of nursing Alexander while she half-sculpted her plate of food before eating it, then tucked him into his basket.

Teddy had been more alert, easily taking a bottle after Andromeda had looked uncomfortable with Luna's offer to nurse the older baby as well. Draco had decided not to mention that the bottle the young blonde had handed him still contained breast milk instead of the formula his aunt had brought along. He'd read enough of Luna's baby care book to know it was better for the baby and wondered at why Andromeda even considered the Muggle formula. Although wealthier purebloods tended to hire a wet nurse if the mother didn't care to nurse an infant, the effectiveness of charms like Luna used both to produce milk and to bottle it generally meant that formula use was fairly rare in the wizarding world.

Draco had conjured Teddy a basket to snuggle down in when Andromeda turned to Harry with a frown.

"I assume you're attending the young Weasley's funeral tomorrow?" she asked.

Harry nodded. "Luna and I both will. Narcissa and Draco offered to babysit."

"If you'd like to attend as well, Rommie, I'm sure we can handle two babies as well as one," Narcissa offered.

Andromeda looked thoughtful for a moment. "I hadn't intended to, but it occurs to me that I was rather shocked to find out about Harry and Luna's marriage. It would be an even bigger shock to the Weasleys, so having someone who is a bit impartial there might be a good idea."

The statement made Draco pause with a forkful of roasted potato halfway to his mouth. Remembering his manners, he returned the food to his plate before offering his own opinion. "Or perhaps Luna should stay home?" He didn't want any of the temperamental redheads upsetting Luna, and he had a nagging feeling that at least one of them would do something stupid when they realized Harry had married in secret, even without knowing about Alexander yet. Perhaps the girl Harry had used to date, although remembering Ron Weasley's temper from school, he suspected any explosions would come from him instead.

Harry's gaze turned to Luna, who shrugged. "They have to find out sometime, and I already know that not everyone will see it as a happy surprise, Harry. But it will be worse if they find out from the newspaper instead of from us directly."

"She's right about that." Narcissa laid her fork down on her now-empty plate. "Normally I wouldn't advise a wake as the place for such announcements, but the longer you two wait, the worse their reactions will be."

"If Aunt Andromeda goes, she can Apparate Luna home quickly if anyone forgets their manners," Draco suggested. Narcissa had offered to teach Luna how to Apparate so that she could get her license once the Ministry was a bit more sorted out, but they hadn't gotten started since the baby had taken priority. He knew Luna had missed the Hogwarts lessons since she'd been in the Malfoy dungeon by the time those had been offered.

"If that's okay with you, Andromeda, I'd like you to attend then. If anyone gets upset, it'd be easier if I could stay and try to talk to them but not have Luna in the middle of it. I think Arthur and the older boys won't care and will be happy for us, but I'm not sure how Molly, Ron, or Ginny will react," Harry said.

Andromeda nodded her agreement and gave a wan smile as she studied the group at the table. "We're a motley group, but we're family, so best to get used to looking after each other."

The brilliant smile Harry gave his aunt reminded Draco of his own thoughts earlier. They really were an odd group, but day by day, they were getting used to being family. He just wished his father hadn't made so many horrible decisions that he'd never get to be part of this.


	7. Weasley Confrontations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry, Luna, and Andromeda attend Fred's funeral and the news of their marriage is shared to mixed reactions.

Harry handed the cup of tea to Arthur, accepting the man's quiet thanks as he looked around the crowded kitchen. The bulk of the mourners had gone home, leaving just him, Andromeda, Luna, Hermione, and the Weasleys. Andromeda was sitting next to Charlie, and he remembered that the dragon handler had gone to Hogwarts at the same time as Tonks. He edged around the uncomfortable discussion involving Fleur and Ginny trying to convince Molly to stop cooking and go rest, searching for Luna.

Not finding her in the kitchen, he stepped into the next room and found her sitting next to George on the worn couch. They were the only ones in the room, sitting silently with Luna tucked up against George with one of his large hands held between her two small ones. She looked up at Harry sadly before leaning her head on the redhead's shoulder. A bit surprised that the rest of the family had let the surviving twin escape to his own devices so soon after the funeral, Harry sat on the other side of George.

He felt that the silent comforting might have continued indefinitely if George hadn't looked down at Luna's hands, where the elegant set of rings reserved for Lady Black glinted in the afternoon sunlight. Harry felt the other man startle, then George was bringing Luna's hand up to inspect the rings. His voice was hoarse from disuse when he spoke. "Luna? Why are you wearing a wedding ring?"

Luna didn't raise her head from the redhead's shoulder. "Because I got married this past week."

"To who?" The half-growl in George's voice surprised Harry. "I knew something was wrong when you weren't here, but no one else seemed concerned about where you were. Told me you were probably off taking care of your father at St. Mungo's. If someone's taken advantage of your situation, they'll answer to me."

Although the spirit he was currently displaying was better than the lifeless behavior George had shown earlier, Harry figured he'd better confess quickly, before George drew any more wrong conclusions. He slipped his hand into George's view, letting the man see his ring matched Luna's wedding band. "To me," he admitted quietly. "Kingsley married us at Grimmauld Place a few days ago."

Whatever reaction the redhead might have had was usurped by the crash of a teacup to the floor. Harry turned to see Ginny and Molly had just entered the room, the girls having won the argument at last to get the Weasley matriarch to stop cooking. The shattered cup lay amidst spilt tea at Ginny's feet.

It was Molly who spoke first, and her words didn't surprise Harry in the least. "What were you two thinking? You are far too young to be married. Kingsley should be ashamed of himself, marrying children!"

Harry sighed. "I'm sorry you feel that way, Molly, but we're adults and it was our choice to do this now. The last year made us both realize there aren't any guarantees on how much time we have." He hated putting it that way, but it was the truth. No one knew how short their time might be, and they'd enjoyed their short time as a family so far.

A choking sound came from Ginny, who sputtered between anger and shock if her expression was anything to go by. The sound drew the attention of others in the kitchen, who stepped around her to follow Molly as she advanced on the trio on the couch. Fleur twitched her wand at the mess on the floor, looking worried as she stopped next to her sister-in-law.

"That's no reason to get married so young! And without any of your family present!"

Harry stood, uncomfortable with even Molly Weasley looming over him when in a temper. It brought back too many bad memories of his childhood. A glance to Luna told him that she was still sitting serenely next to George, who held both of her hands in his as he watched Harry.

"We had reason to get things taken care of right away," he explained. "Kingsley agreed, and we had some family present, just not everyone because we didn't want to disturb anyone."

It was Arthur who spoke next, a frown marring his usually placid expression. "The only reason to rush such things would be if a baby were involved…" He trailed off as Harry nodded.

Molly's gasp made him flinch, but it was Ginny who made him glad he'd stood to block Luna from most of those in the room. He'd seen Ginny angry in the past, but this was the first time he'd seen her truly livid. "You broke up with me because it wasn't safe, then turned around and married someone else the second the war was over?"

This was the hardest part of the whole situation. He'd come to the realization over the past year that his infatuation with Ginny was just that – a bad case of puppy love. But things had moved so fast with needing to protect Luna and the baby that he'd not taken the time to tell his former girlfriend that he didn't see a future for them as a couple. "I'm sorry, Ginny. I know I should have told you sooner, and in private, but there's been so much to get settled this week, and I didn't want to intrude this week of all weeks."

"Intrude! You should have been here too! Not going off and getting married and whatever else was more important than us. We've been more family to you than anyone else." The slim redhead had begun to cry, but her tone was bitterly angry.

"You all have been family to me," Harry admitted. "But I have other responsibilities for both of the families I'm head of now."

"What? Playing house with Luna is more important than anything else? How can you claim being responsible when you probably just married her out of pity that you got her pregnant? It's not like anyone would marry her for any other reason, not Loony Lovegood."

The sheer spite in the statement made Harry feel sick to his stomach, especially as he heard the quiet gasp from behind him. He'd long suspected that Ginny tolerated Luna more than a true friendship, but the intentional cruelty he saw on his ex-girlfriend's face was more revealing than her hurtful words. He shoved away his instinctive wish to placate her to stay on good terms with the Weasleys. As he'd said he had more responsibilities than just to his foster family now.

"Andromeda? Can you take Luna home? I'm sure your sister would like help with the babies by now." The dark-haired woman stepped around Fleur to go straight to Luna's side, where the blond sat with her left hand still held by George for a moment as the man squeezed it reassuringly. He felt relieved that at least one member of the clan wasn't going to condemn Luna. With a toss of floo powder, the women disappeared after Andromeda called out for Grimmauld Place.

Left facing the varying reactions of the Weasleys, Harry almost wished he'd opted for cowardice and followed them. Charlie and Percy looked confused, Bill and Fleur thoughtful, Molly and Ginny angry, and Arthur stern. With Luna's departure, George seemed to have lost whatever interest he'd had in the proceedings and was now staring out the window. He realized Ron and Hermione were missing and wondered where they'd gotten off to, a concern which was answered almost immediately as he heard the back door slam closed. At least he would only have to explain things once.

"I thought we heard yelling," Ron began as he tromped into the room, frowning as he saw the tears on his sister's face and his mother's angry expression. "What happened?"

"Your best mate's been off playing house all week while we were here getting ready to bury our brother," Ginny spat out.

Ron looked stunned, turning to look at Harry. "Is this true, mate?"

"I wasn't off playing house, and it wasn't meant to be discarding any of you. I had to get things ready for Teddy and Andromeda to come live with me and also take care of my responsibilities as Lord Black. There's so bloody much I was never taught that being Head of a family entails, especially a noble wizarding one. Luna and I did get married," he explained, knowing his expression was pleading for his oldest friend to understand. He didn't even spare a glance for Hermione, knowing she was less likely to reject him outright than Ron. She'd never turned away from him, after all.

"Lord Black? Since when have you cared for titles, Harry? And to get married, even if you were irresponsible enough to get that poor girl pregnant. Although I don't know when you managed, with her locked up in the Malfoy dungeons." Molly's tone reminded Harry of the Howlers she'd sent her errant children over the years at Hogwarts.

"Merlin! How could you be responsible?" Ginny ground out. "Did you feel sorry for her and now you're going to raise some Death Eater's spawn as your own?"

"That's enough!" Everyone in the room jumped as George shouted the words. He shoved himself to his feet and marched over to his sister, gripping her arms roughly in his hands. "You will stop belittling your friends for finding some scrap of happiness from the hell we all went through in the past year, little sister. Be angry at Harry if you like but stop pretending like Luna is beneath you. I can't believe you called her that awful name." As if the outburst had taken all of his energy, his shoulders slumped. "At least he remembered to make sure she was safe. The rest of us forgot."

Harry's heart clenched in response to the hollowness of that last statement. He moved to place a hand on the one-eared man's shoulder in comfort and was surprised when George turned to envelope him in a rib-cracking hug. He returned it, not yet daring to meet Ron's gaze to see what his best friend was thinking at the moment. George's next words were almost too quiet to hear. "Take care of her, Harry. You two will be good for each other."

George let Harry go, then turned and headed for the door, seeming to know that everyone would melt out of his way. Harry watched him go, before finally meeting Ron's gaze. The tall redhead was angry, as he'd feared, but seemed like he was waiting for an explanation.

Running a hand through his messy hair, Harry spared a glance for Hermione at last. The brunette looked thoughtful, as if she were turning over events in her head to see if the pieces all fit. She'd be the biggest risk to the story they'd concocted to explain the baby's presence.

"There's absolutely no chance the baby's father is anyone but me," he began. That much was truthful. The ritual they'd done insured that even the strictest paternity spell or potion would reveal him as father, and none of those here would suspect him or Luna of using the blood magic they had. "She snuck out of Hogwarts a couple of times right in September and October, meeting me to update me on her search through old records kept in Ravenclaw Tower. We realized we had feelings for each other then." He flushed, knowing he was implying they'd begun shagging during those meetings.

"She was already pregnant when she was taken off the train at Christmas, wasn't she?" Hermione asked. "That's why you were so careful of her after we escaped Malfoy Manor. She told you she was pregnant then."

Feeling a flood of relief sweep through him, Harry nodded. This was the first real test of the family magic Luna had used. She'd said it would help people 'remember' facts to support their story, including remembering a disguised pregnancy that hadn't actually existed.

"So why didn't you tell us then or right after the battle?" Ron asked. His voice was surprisingly neutral. "She fought with all of us at Hogwarts. Any of those spells could have killed the baby."

"She wasn't supposed to fight. She was going to help evacuate the younger kids and then leave when they did. But then she remembered the Grey Lady and no one else could have convinced the ghost to talk the way she could." Harry shivered, realizing that if anything had happened to Luna, Snape would have truly bled to death on the floor of the Shrieking Shack. He continued before that thought could take hold.

"After the battle, she realized no one had gone to look after Snape's body. I didn't even realize she was missing until Draco and I found her at the Shack. She was too far gone in labor for us to bring her back to the castle. I delivered the baby there and had Kreacher take them both to safety at Grimmauld Place. We didn't want to leave Snape behind, so I set the Shack on fire to make sure no one contested him getting a respectful funeral rite."

"That's why you disappeared after you reported to Kingsley that Snape's body had been taken care of. But why didn't you just bring Luna and the baby back to the castle?" It was Bill who spoke up this time. Harry held out hope that the oldest Weasley brother would have a calming effect on his younger siblings.

"The castle had very little in the way of security. Grimmauld's wards weren't entirely intact, but they were stronger than anywhere else at the time. The baby was fine according to all the spells Luna and Kreacher threw at him. Just really small from being born about a month too soon and his mum being held in a dungeon most of her pregnancy."

"It's a boy?"

Harry met Arthur's gaze evenly, smiling a little. "We've named him Alexander. There will be a Naming Ceremony once things are more stable."

The older man nodded, expression still stern. "I can't really approve of how this all came about, but war gets a lot of things muddled up. You're doing the right thing by Luna now, which is what counts in the end. I'm proud of you."

"Daddy! How can you be so accepting? Harry was my boyfriend until she stole him away from me!"

Sparing a second to flinch at the volume Ginny used, Harry was surprised when Arthur turned his stern expression on his youngest child. "By your own admission, Harry was no longer your boyfriend when all this began with Luna. If you two had been more than a school romance, even the war wouldn't have separated you. I won't hear of any protests from this family about Harry's wife or child."

"Arthur! How can you just dismiss our little girl's upset like it's nothing?"

When Arthur turned to face his wife, Harry was glad the disapproval wasn't for him. "Because Harry's ours, too. I'll not turn on one child to soothe another's feelings. I know you've dreamed of Ginny marrying Harry for years and planted that notion in her head as well, but you've both got to accept that it's no longer possible."

Molly's expression turned stubborn and she stomped over to draw Ginny close, hugging her tightly as the girl began to sob angrily against her. Harry's heart sank as he saw Ron move to wrap his arms around them both, his expression thunderous. He realized that Ron might have forgiven him for upsetting just Ginny, but not his mother too.

"I'm sorry for upsetting anyone, today of all days," Harry began, only to be cut off by Arthur.

"You don't need to apologize. Defending Luna is the most life we've seen out of George all week. I'd begun to fear we'd end up losing him too. In a day or so, I'll suggest he pay a visit to see how Luna and the baby are settling in."

Taking a deep breath and sending a regretful look toward Ron, Harry shuffled forward to hug Hermione awkwardly. "I think I'd better get home. I trust the new wards we put up, but I don't like being away so long."

No one objected to him leaving and Harry felt a bit guilty as he made his escape through the floo. It wasn't until he heard Draco's chuckle as he stumbled out of the fireplace that he realized he'd completely forgotten to tell about the other two additions to his family.


	8. Love Works Like That

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luna acts as Lady Black to take in more 'family' at Grimmauld Place...

_Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JKR, of course. Just puttering around in her world._

When the house wards buzzed, Luna reached for her wand where it lay on the table. She murmured the spell to identify who was at the front door. The names made her smile, so she called for Kreacher as she tucked her wand behind her ear. The old elf popped into the kitchen, gazing approvingly at the baby nursing in her arms.

“Missus Potter needs Kreacher to escort visitors?” he asked.

“Yes, thank you.” She smiled at the elf before he popped away to the entrance hall, listening to his efficient greeting. From what Harry had said, Kreacher’s behavior now was worlds different from the half-mad, sniveling elf that had served Grimmauld Place after the last Lady Black’s death. She certainly couldn’t fault his devotion to the baby’s care.

As she heard footsteps on the stairs down to the kitchen, she finished off the last of her cup of hot chocolate, frowning a little at how cool it had gotten while she’d been reading at the table. The frown disappeared as she saw George leading the way into the room. “I wondered how long your curiosity would hold out,” she said, favoring him with a sweet smile as he sat down next to her.

“It may be a longer visit than just an afternoon’s visit,” he said, reaching out to carefully caress the baby’s silky wisps of black hair.

“I had a feeling that might happen.” Like the dream she’d had of Teddy coming to the house, she’d dreamed last night of the house growing to hold even more family. It hadn’t been clear who it was, but she wasn’t surprised to see George arrive. She turned to the two who’d accompanied George. “Hermione. Percy. Are you just making sure he got here safely, or did you also want to change where you call home?”

Hermione looked almost relieved at Luna’s matter-of-fact acceptance that the trio had arrived to stay. She nodded, causing stray curls to escape the loose twist she had her hair in. “Things are a bit uncomfortable at the Burrow right now and a bit overcrowded too.”

Luna figured being overcrowded was a bit of a polite excuse to say yesterday’s news about the Potter marriage was still causing strife among the Weasleys. “Harry’s gone today to the Ministry and Gringotts, but he should be back by dinnertime. I know he won’t mind me saying you are all more than welcome to stay here.” 

She paused to thank Kreacher for the fresh mug of hot chocolate and asked him to ready tea for the other three. “If Percy and George don’t mind sharing, there are two rooms free. Sirius’ old room on the third floor and the one on the first floor, although I think Harry would be worried if you took that one, Hermione. He wouldn’t like you alone on the ground level.”

The other woman sat across from Luna, motioning for Percy to sit too. The man looked distinctly uncomfortable, but sat down, focusing his attention on the bustling house elf. “If there are only two rooms empty, who all is staying here?” Hermione asked.

Luna hummed as she pondered how best to answer that question. Harry had admitted rather sheepishly, once he’d assured himself she was not still upset over Ginny’s venom, that he’d forgotten to explain the full extent of their family to everyone. Her drowsy son gave her time to think, as she righted her clothing and settled him on her shoulder. Patting his back gently, she smiled at the three newest residents of Grimmauld Place. 

“As Lord Black, Harry is responsible for all members of the Black family. He’s reinstated Andromeda, and through her line, Teddy, as members of the family, but there are two other members of the family that were in need of his protection as well.”

It wasn’t Hermione who first made the connection, but George. “Narcissa and Draco.”

Luna nodded. “Lucius rescinded their marriage contract, which returned them both to the family.”

Hermione looked offended. “He can just cast them off like rubbish by revoking a contract?”

“Depending on how the contract was worded, it might be more to their benefit, and Harry’s,” Percy said, looking directly at Luna now that she was no longer nursing. “The Blacks were quite infamous for their contracts favoring their own family if the other family was foolish enough to reject one of theirs. Cyrus Black was known as a shrewd businessman, so I’d wager that Harry’s vaults are considerably richer, especially since Narcissa bore a suitable heir during the marriage.”

Rewarding him with a bright smile, Luna nodded. “Mr. Malfoy had to return double Narcissa’s dowry plus the same amount again for Draco, plus all their personal things and two house elves.” Deciding to take advantage of George sitting so close and seeming interested in the baby, Luna settled Alexander in his arms. “You’ll be quite interested in meeting the elves, Hermione. The younger is Dobby’s daughter.”

Deciding to introduce the elves now, she called for Lannie and Nettie\\\a, giggling when the two females popped almost silently into the room. She hadn’t yet figured out how they knew when the baby was sleeping in order to quiet their arrivals into a room, but figured it was related to the wealth of nanny related spells Lannie knew and had taught Netta. 

Both sank into polite curtsies, before looking curiously at the newcomers.

“Lannie, Netta, we have three new people who are going to be staying with us. The lady is Hermione Granger, and you may call her Miss Hermione. She’ll be in the red and gold room across from Master Draco’s room. The gentleman next to her is Percy Weasley, and he’ll be in the room on the first floor. This lovely fellow snuggling the young master is George Weasley. He’ll share with his brother, so make sure there are two adequately sized beds for them. You can rummage in the attic if you like. I don’t think Draco set it up for two people when he redid that room.”

She turned back to the others, giving them her warmest smile. “You’re welcome to try to dissuade them from honorific titles, but it upsets Lannie, which in turn upsets Netta. Then Kreacher will go on a house-wide rant about ungratefulness that none of us want to experience ever again.” Since Hermione looked resigned to the elves’ behavior, she shared the tidbit discovered after Kreacher’s tantrum that had had her, Harry, and Draco in spasms of laughter. “It seems that Lannie is Kreacher’s baby sister, and he apparently learned some overprotective big brother routines from watching a certain family that spent a few summers here.”

It had the effect intended. Hermione started giggling and Percy chuckled, no doubt able to imagine the antics of his younger brothers despite his own growing schism with his family during that time period. Even George managed a smile, before reaching out with his free hand to take Luna’s left one and run this thumb across her rings.

She smiled sweetly at him, recognizing a return of the concern he’d shown her yesterday. Perhaps logic and politics had dictated the choice of Harry versus Draco as spouse to her and father to Alexander, but she realized belatedly that accepting Harry as her unexpected husband was far easier than accepting Draco would have been. George would have always worried she’d been forced or coerced, no matter how changed the blond was. 

“You seem happy, moon-child. Very comfortable as lady of the house,” he said at last.

“I am,” she assured him. “Maybe it isn’t the fairy tale way of things, like the stories Mum read me when I was little, but real life is about taking happiness where you can and taking care of those you love.” And in her most private thoughts, she allowed herself to hope that the happiness of her dreams was the path her marriage would take her on. She’d cared deeply for Harry for years now and knew he also cared for her, but knew it wasn’t truly the marriage sort of love for either of them yet.

“I’m sorry we weren’t able to get you out of that dungeon,” George said softly. “Fred and I tried everything we could think of, short of getting captured ourselves.”

“It’s okay,” she reassured him. “Once they had me, they mostly let me be, since I wasn’t much of a hostage for Daddy’s good behavior if they didn’t. And Draco did his best to slip me extra food, even before he knew about the baby.”

Hermione looked puzzled when Luna glanced her way, reminded of Harry’s cautions that she was the true test of their stories. When she saw Luna’s glance, she sighed softly. “I’m not sure which I want to hear more about first – Malfoy trying to take care of you or why George is so protective of you.”

Before Luna could reply, George spoke up. “It was a vow we made as kids, me, Fred, and Cedric, that we’d always look out for Luna. We were the ones who found her after her Mum’s accident. Her dad was out of the country at the time, and Mrs. Lovegood had promised us boys a really fantastic potions lesson that afternoon. But when we got there, Luna had been alone with her mum for about four hours.” He let go of Luna’s hand to put an arm around her and hug her tightly to his side. “It’s just me left now, so I’ll just have to be triply protective.”

Luna giggled. “Poor Harry. Last night he joked that only he could marry a woman with no brothers yet still have to fear for his life due to overprotective males if he upset her.”

“Who managed to threaten him before I had a proper chance?” George asked.

“I told him that cursing his balls off would be the least of his worries,” came the unexpected reply from the kitchen doorway. Everyone’s attention diverted to Draco, who shrugged off the stares and nodded in greeting as he shifted Teddy from his shoulder to the crook of one arm. “Hello Weasleys, Granger.”

“Malfoy beat me to threatening Harry for you?” George asked incredulously.

Luna frowned at them both. “This surname business had got to stop,” she told them both. “And besides, he’d not a Malfoy anymore.”

Both looked suitably chastened at the reminder, but Draco reacted first. He strode to the table and offered his hand to Percy. “Allow me to introduce myself,” he said. “Draco Black, and the tyke who thinks my ear is a chew toy is my cousin Teddy.”

He chose well for the flippant introduction, since Luna figured of the three newcomers, Percy had the least bad blood with Draco and the most personal insistence on good manners. The thin redhead accepted the handshake and went through the formality of introducing himself, his brother, and Hermione.

Steps towards her forgiveness taken, Draco flashed her a smile and then went to rummage about in the cold cabinet to retrieve a bottle for Teddy. He settled gracefully into the chair next to her and settled the older baby to his feeding before realizing all eyes were still on him. He arched one elegant eyebrow inquisitively.

“Well, that settles it. He’s certainly not the boy I remember from school,” Hermione said at last, causing Luna to laugh.

“Of course not. I’m much better than that pampered little snot ever was,” Draco quipped.

“Draco has been renovating the house since he moved in. Combined with Narcissa’s knowledge of the family spells, he’s made amazing headway at making everything livable.”

“Not to mention less like a creepy, dark-infested hovel,” Draco added. “I’ve seen old family properties that had almost a life of their own due to their wards and absorbed magic, but this house took that to amazing lengths. Seems like it understands everyone wants to be here and be proud of the family name now though.”

“Would it be something you could use some help on?” Hermione asked. “I’ll bet the sorts of spells needed aren’t anything they taught us at Hogwarts.”

The blond nodded and began an explanation that also drew in Percy, leaving Luna to speak quietly to George. “You didn’t have to move in here,” she began, but he shook his head.

“There is no ‘have to’ involved, moon-child. I wasn’t staying at the Burrow while Mum and the youngest two wallowed in self-pity and spitefulness, and Percy didn’t want to either. My flat above the store isn’t livable at the moment, even if I could stand to be there just yet. Hermione got shouted at for taking sides even though she tried to stay out of it all, so I packed us all up and came over. I knew you and Harry wouldn’t turn us away.”

Reassured, Luna just hugged him tightly, happy that even if her marriage was causing divisions in the Weasley family, it had spurred her favorite Weasley back to life. She figured Fred wouldn’t mind if she made a vow of her own to look after his twin as fiercely as Fred always had. Love worked like that, after all.


	9. Collecting Slytherins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry collects a few 'new" cousins left adrift by the war.

_Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JKR, of course. Just puttering around in her world_

Harry emerged from his goblin account manager's office feeling a bit overwhelmed by the experience of reviewing the Potter and Black accounts as the adult manager of them. He had thought he was prepared for the scope of things based on the lessons Narcissa had begun for him in the week she'd been at Grimmauld Place, but studying pureblood law and culture versus seeing just how much he actually owned and was responsible beyond the actual people in his household was overwhelming. Although he supposed he should be grateful that he now knew he'd have no problem supporting them all even if no one took an outside job. Shrinking the two account ledgers, he stashed them in a robe pocket to review with Narcissa and Andromeda later.

He paused, intending to renew the obscure variation of the Notice-Me-Not charm the Black sister had insisted he use while in public today, but was distracted by a semi-familiar face emerging from the vault carts area. The sight of tears on someone he'd have sworn would have prefer to die rather than show weakness publicly made him take a deep breath and approach her.

"Bulstrode? Is there anything I can help with?"

The stoutly-built young woman looked startled, before she rubbed the sleeve of her worn robe across her face to remove the evidence of her tears. "Nothing that concerns you, Potter."

Her tone lacked the bite he'd associated with Slytherins in school, and he sighed softly. Part of him wanted to accept the out she'd given him, but he remembered all too well that Bulstrode had not been a Death Eater. She hadn't fought at the Battle of Hogwarts on either side, but had been seen protecting younger years and aiding their escape from the castle. That alone merited he make more of an effort. "Maybe not, but I'm not so heartless to walk away when I strongly suspect you need someone to talk to, even if I can't help."

He thought she was going to reject the offer again, but a glance toward two shabbily dressed boys near the entrance seemed to change her mind. "The Ministry is going to place my brothers in a Muggle orphanage if I can't prove I'm capable of providing for them." She reached into a robe pocket and removed a small money bag he could tell contained far too few coins for someone responsible for two youngsters. "This is all that was left in my father's vault. It isn't even enough to cover next month for our flat, much less feed them properly. Even if there were jobs available, I doubt anyone's going to hire a Slytherin half-blood who hasn't got any NEWTs."

He could tell the admission of poverty cost her dearly, and she stood resolutely before him, seeming to expect ridicule. "If you have somewhere else to stay, do you think the Ministry would give you more time to find work?"

She shrugged. "Maybe, but I don't have anyone left to help me."

"Yes, you do." There was room to spare at Grimmauld, and he suspected Draco could add wizard space to expand the house if necessary. "I've got room, if you don't mind staying in a house with two small infants in residence."

The woman frowned at him. "I don't want us to be a charity case for you, Potter," she said gruffly.

"It's not just charity. It's common decency, and those boys don't deserve to end up in a Muggle orphanage." The thought made him shudder, considering Voldemort's childhood. Magical children might be safe enough with their families in the Muggle world, but to be essentially abandoned in a group home was not a good solution. His hand brushed the lumps of the family ledgers and it gave him an idea. "Are you related to Violetta Bulstrode in some way?"

"She was my great aunt. Why?"

"Because that makes us cousins. She was my great-grandmother." He smiled, hoping the family connection might settle her discomfort. "And I may have a lot left to learn about wizarding culture still, but it means there's no charity if family is in need. I don't want to see your brothers end up left in the Muggle world any more than you do."

She took a deep, shuddering breath and then gave an abrupt nod. "It'll just be until I find work, and I'll pay you back every sickle spent on us."

Harry figured he'd allow her that much pride, even if he didn't need the money. He'd feel the same way if their positions were reversed. "How about you introduce me to my other cousins then, Millicent?"

"I prefer Millie," she said softly, before leading him to the waiting boys. "Boys, I'd like you to meet Harry Potter. Pot, er, Harry, these are my brothers. Sebastian is thirteen and a Ravenclaw at Hogwarts. Edmund just turned eleven. He's due to start school this year."

Harry didn't want to imagine the pressure on Millie at the mention of the boys' school ages. His Hogwarts fees had been paid in full by his parents as soon as he'd been born, but he knew that was unusual and only a practice of wealthy families. Others, like the Weasleys, had to scrimp and save to lay the 1,700 galleons per year. He shook hands with both boys and smiled reassuringly. "Your sister and I just realized we're cousins."

They looked to Millie for confirmation and she nodded. "We are going to go stay with Harry until I get everything sorted out with Father's estate," she explained. Harry thought the younger boy looked near tears in obvious relief, but Sebastian frowned.

"Why would he do that for us?" the teenager asked. His pale colored eyes were very different from his sister's dark gaze, and he studied Harry in the way the young man associated with Ravenclaws mulling over an intriguing puzzle. It reminded him quite a bit of Luna.

"Because that's what family ought to do for each other," he explained. "For seven years, I was allowed to believe I had no relatives in the wizarding world. Now I've learned I have a lot of cousins, especially through my Black grandmother. I'm also Lord Black, and I would not be serving my duty to that House if I didn't look after all my relatives properly."

Sebastian didn't look entirely convinced, but seemed to decide he'd accept it for now since he turned to Millie. "When are we moving?"

She glanced at Harry, who shrugged. "Today, if you like. I can loan you a house elf to help pack up your things."

"There's not much, but I guess help would make it go faster. How will we know where to go?"

"Netta will pop you over when you're ready. That'll give me time to let everyone know you're coming." He called the elf before Millie could rethink her acceptance and gave the elf instructions. Leaving his newest family members to the efficient care of Netta, he recast his privacy charm and headed for Diagon Alley and then Muggle London. Kreacher now had access to the housekeeping fund, but he wanted to try out the Muggle bank card the bank had provided. With three more mouths to feed, more groceries were now a high priority.

An hour later he apparated into the entrance hall, shifting the Tesco bags. He'd concentrated on tonight's dinner and tomorrow's breakfast, figuring that would give Kreacher time to restock the pantry via wizarding shops. Considering Luna's instant love of the Happy Faces biscuits after his last trip to Tesco's, he'd also bought several packs of the biscuits for her. He'd also sought out the barmbrack that Draco had hungrily devoured and wished he'd paid more attention to the two older women's tastes in regards to the last round of shopping he'd done,

He made his way toward the basement kitchen, calling for Luna as he went. It didn't surprise him that she was in the kitchen, but he was pleasantly surprised to find Hermione, Percy, and George there. He plopped the shopping bags on the table, extracted a packet of biscuits from one, and offered them to Luna before he settled next to her, happy with her delighted squeal and the quick kiss she pressed to his lips. It was the first time she'd initiated a kiss of any sort, and despite the chaste nature of it, he felt a pleasant warmth spread through him.

Smiling at the others, he greeted them. "I didn't expect a visit so soon." He'd figured it would be at least two or three days before anyone came over, and Percy's presence was a true surprise.

"It's not exactly a visit," Hermione explained. "The Burrow is a bit uncomfortable for us three right now. Luna said you'd be glad to have us stay."

Harry nodded. "Of course I am. You three can stay as long as you like." He spared a thought for just how the logistics of adding in the Bulstrode siblings would pan out, so he turned to Draco. "We're going to have three more people to accommodate beyond Hermione and these two."

The blond grimaced. "I can rush sorting out the attic space, but they'll need to share until then. Might take me two days of so to clean out the old servant quarters up there. Who's coming?"

"Millie Bulstrode and her two brothers. I sent Netta to help them pack up their old flat."

"I can share with her," Hermione offered. "Sirius' old room is plenty large enough for two women."

Draco looked pensive, and Harry could almost imagine his thoughts about toward rearranging the house. "Her brothers are school age, so they can stay with me until I get the attic room ready. They can keep my room and be closer to their sister. I'll take the attic room." He began rummaging in the Tesco bags, before finding the bread Harry had gotten especially for him. "How did you manage to collect another Slytherin?"

Shrugging, Harry stroked Alexander's tiny foot, wishing the baby was awake for a quick cuddle. Today had been the first day he'd been away from Luna and their son for more than an hour or two, and it made him crave contact with both. "The Ministry's back together enough to start investigating child placements, and they were threatening to put the boys into a Muggle orphanage since she doesn't have a way of supporting them."

"That's awful," Hermione exclaimed. Harry met her gaze, knowing she was thinking of a young Tom Riddle the same as he had. "Aren't there wizarding orphanages?"

"Not in Britain," Draco explained. "It doesn't happen often that there are no relatives to take orphaned magical children. Pureblood families will usually claim even distant cousins rather than let a pureblood child be Muggle raised. It's usually pretty informally done, since the child welfare department just requires a letter stating the child's been taken in." He summoned the teapot on the table to him and refreshed his cup. "But the war's likely scrambled things up, and Millie's a half-blood, which complicates things."

"Why's that?" Harry asked.

"Her father was disowned by his family for marrying a Muggle woman, so his relatives won't take the boys in. Millie's grandfather is a Death Eater, too, so odds are high that he'll end up in Azkaban and be no use to them, even if he did take them."

"That's just bloody awful," Harry said, glad he'd bumped into Millie in the bank. "Will there be any problem for me taking them in?"

"Even if you weren't the Savior of wizarding Britain, they'd approve you. The Black name may have been dormant since Orion Black died, just like the Potter name had been until you came of age, but both carry a lot of weight for child custody."

"He'd right," Percy added. "You probably wouldn't even need any sort of blood relation to claim custody of an orphan."

Luna reached out to take Harry's hand, looking troubled. "You should ask Kingsley to put a halt to Muggle orphanages, Harry. I doubt the Bulstrodes are the only ones at risk, between the war and the parents that might end up in Azkaban."

"Are you suggesting Harry take responsibility for more?" Draco asked.

Luna simply shrugged and finished chewing her biscuit. "Every last one. They're just children."

Though it sounded like a daunting task, Harry knew she was right. "I'll go see him in the morning."

Draco sighed, no doubt trying to picture how to stuff more people into an already full house. "I hope you got a property list from Gringotts. I think we may need a larger place than a London house meant as a single family dwelling."

"I'll go over the ledgers tonight. I'm sure your mother will know which properties would be suitable."

Before more discussion could occur, Harry heard the sound of house elf apparition in the entrance hall and excused himself to go fetch the newcomers. While the thought of further responsibilities scared him, he knew Luna was right. None of the children made parentless by the war deserved to be sent into an unfamiliar world on top of what they'd gone through in the last year. He wouldn't be alone in this endeavor and that was enough to calm his nerves.


	10. Househunting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hunting for a bigger home leads Harry, Luna, and Draco to a unique northern island.

_Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JKR, of course. Just puttering around in her world._

Draco was the last to the kitchen for breakfast, which made him glad Kreacher and Lannie had a tendency to cook too much. While he'd managed to get extra beds in rooms with a little help from his mother for adding a couple of extra feet in his room for the Bulstrode boys, it didn't help the limited number of bathrooms that had resulted in his wait for a shower and thus breakfast. He wished it were easier to add bathrooms, but adequate plumbing spells were hard to master and beyond his current skill level. If Harry found more orphans, and Draco was certain there'd be quite a few, Grimmauld Place would be beyond capacity very quickly.

He grabbed a plate and filled it from the platters of food spread out on the kitchen counter. Passing Luna to take the open chair on Harry's left side, he squeezed her shoulder gently in greeting and delayed eating to smooth the dark silky hair on Alexander where he was perched on Harry's shoulder. Glancing around the table, he noted that the two boys seemed to be settling in nicely, both chatting to George with a bit of awe evident in Edmund that he was next to an owner of Weasley Wizarding Wheezes.

Millie was another story. She was eating quietly, her plain features set into the carefully neutral expression he was used to seeing from her at school. Being a half-blood in Slytherin hadn't been easy, especially being from a disgraced branch of her family. He knew he'd been one of the prats who'd made life harder on her, so he had some behavior to make up for. Maybe his mother would have some ideas on drawing the young woman out of her shell.

"Andromeda and I went over the family ledgers a bit last night," Harry said, interrupting Draco's train of thought. "I copied out a property list I want to visit, and she suggested I take you along since you're familiar with family wards and house spells."

"I was just thinking we needed more space, if things work out on collecting the children who need homes." Draco fiddled with a piece of bacon. "We're short on bathrooms here and you'd need a true building spell master to get those expanded or added."

The dark-haired wizard nodded before turning to Luna. "Do you want to come along? I want you to have input since I figure we can all move if I find a property large enough for us plus any kids we need to look after."

"I think it sounds lovely," she said, a faraway look in her eyes for a moment. She refocused and poked George in the shoulder. "Uncle George, would you like to babysit for a few hours today?"

The redhead shrugged. "I don't mind. I can always send a Patronus if he gets lonely for his mum."

"Good. We'll leave after breakfast," Luna declared. She took a last forkful of jam covered eggs and pushed her chair back. "I'll just go get bottles ready."

Harry summoned a parchment, passing it to Draco. "I wrote Gringotts this morning to get a multiple use portkey that would go to any of our properties. They should owl it over any time now."

Draco almost missed the phrasing of "our" properties as he'd begun to study the list. He smiled slightly. "Your handwriting is atrocious, Harry."

"I've never quite gotten used to writing with a quill. I ought to get some Muggle paper and a pencil or biro." Harry fiddled with a piece of bacon. "What place should we visit first? I just wrote them down in the order I found them in the ledger."

"Well, since those ledgers never list any real details beyond location and value, we're kind of stuck with randomly choosing." Remembering that it wouldn't take Luna long to finish her spells to fill bottles with breast milk for the babies, Draco decided to ignore finicky table manners in favor of eating quickly. He piled eggs on toast, with a couple of pieces of bacon on top. Folding the toast around eggs and bacon, he took a large bite while scanning the list. "Do you want to stick to British or Irish properties? You copied down a couple abroad."

"We'll save those for last. There's one that didn't have a location, just like Grimmauld. Andromeda said it meant the property was unplottable. It's from the Potter ledger, so I'd like to visit it too, just to see if we can figure out where it is."

Draco found the property in question and nodded. "It's got the highest monetary value, even more than the traditional Potter family base in Wales. A couple of these are dubbed cottages, so we might skip them until later, since they aren't likely to be large enough."

"Sounds good." An owl pecked at one of the basement windows, and Hermione got up to let it in. She relieved it of its package and passed it to Harry as Luna returned. Harry rose carefully and passed the baby to George, so Draco polished off the last of his breakfast, washing it down with tea that was almost too hot to drink. As soon as Harry finished reading the letter from the goblins, he offered the length of braided ribbon to both Draco and Luna. All three bid farewell to the others before Harry tapped the portkey ribbon with his wand, speaking the name of the Potter family seat, and they were swept away.

* * *

Draco grumbled as he held out a balancing hand to Harry as they landed at the last destination for the day. He'd have thought that repeated practice would have improved the other wizard's landing skills after a dozen portkey jumps today, but apparently not. Luna was already stepping away, her wand out and twirling it thoughtfully as she looked around the island that had turned out to be the unplottable location they'd saved for last.

The petite blond cast a spell he didn't recognize, but the area of the island they could see lit up like Hogwarts under a ward revealing spell. "Dear Merlin," he breathed, thinking it was a miracle they'd landed safely there at all, as he recognized a layer of blood wards similar to ones present at Malfoy Manor.

"What is it?" Harry asked, observing the ward lines that fairly glowed all around them.

"What is the name of this place?" Luna asked.

Draco snagged the now battered parchment out of his robe pocket and did his best with translating Harry's handwriting. "Frodleer?"

"Fróðleikr."

The foreign word reminded him of some of the family spells he'd heard Luna use, back when the household had just been the three of them and the baby. "Are we even still in Britain?" he wondered.

Luna shrugged. "Most likely not." She turned to Harry. "Do you know if any of your Potter relatives were Scandinavian?"

Harry dug into a pocket and unshrunk a book he'd gotten from the Potter family home in Wales. He flipped through a few pages and then nodded. "Eight generations back, an aunt married a squib from 'the icy north isles'. They didn't have any children though, so I'm not sure why any property would have stayed with the family."

"If he was the last of his line, these wards may have recognized her family as the closest they would get to staying with a magical line," Draco answered absently, walking away from them toward the cliff's edge. "Or he sired a child by another Pot…" Completing the sentence was beyond him as he took in the sight below. The other two hurried to join him.

He'd been right that the cliff overlooked the sea, but it also gave a vantage point of where the island curved back on itself. A herd of grazing animals, probably sheep, moved along a scraggly meadow on the other side, a good climb above a rocky beach. But above the animals loomed a building of windworn stone that could only be called a castle. It wasn't as large as Hogwarts, but if the protective wards held on the building as well as on the island itself, the place was perhaps the answer they were looking for.

They discussed apparating over, but no one felt safe trying it just yet. The long walk around needed warming charms cast, since none of them had expected to go so far north that they'd need winter cloaks in May. By the time they arrived, the sheep had fled, but a flock of bold geese merely stared them down.

"Harry, I think you should touch the door lightly," Draco advised after he and Luna had both cast different ward revealing spells. "See if the wards recognize you."

The dark haired wizard nodded and reached out slowly to place him palm against the smooth wood of one of the big double doors. Draco watched the ward spells flicker and then brighten, turning the brilliant blue he knew meant the wards had keyed to a new head of family. They all breathed a sigh of relief, laughing at the group reaction.

"Well, let's see if the place had good preservation spells," Draco announced. They'd been gone long enough, and this place needed a lot of exploration. He had a feeling he and Harry would return tomorrow, perhaps with a few of the others, to check things over more thoroughly. Hermione should definitely come, if Luna didn't. He could admit the young woman was almost Ravenclaw in her wealth of obscure knowledge.

They entered into a large entrance hall, with a staircase along either side leading to a landing that overlooked the entrance. Luna hummed happily. "It feels like the people just left yesterday," she announced. "None of the musty smell or abandoned feeling some places get if the preservation spells aren't strong enough."

Draco nodded, looking around in unfettered curiosity. "They must be anchored with the wards somehow. The place has to have been empty for centuries. You said eight generations, Harry?"

The black-haired wizard checked the parchment again before speaking. "Yeah. That's wizarding generations, so if no one lived here after their lifetimes, this island could have been uninhabited for eight hundred years or more."

"Almost as long as Hogwarts has been around," Luna commented venturing toward the stairs. "Let's give it a quick look. With spells and such for living areas, the important things are bathrooms and the kitchen. Anything else we can adapt ourselves."

"Guess we saved the best for last, eh?" Harry quipped as they followed her.

* * *

An hour and a half later, they apparated into the entrance hall at Grimmauld Place, Harry laughing as Luna reached out from where she'd side-alonged with Harry to drag Draco into a group hug.

"I take it the trip went well?" George was halfway down the stairs from the first floor, Alexander tucked snugly in one arm.

Draco backed away from the hug, only to find himself kept on one side by Luna's arm around his waist. "It's absolutely perfect, George," she exclaimed. "They're going back tomorrow, and you should go along to help."

"The place is so bloody big we practically need to map it," Harry added.

"And with enough usable bathrooms that we could stuff half of Hogwarts in the place and not have the lines we have here," Draco noted. He'd been amazed that the maintenance spells had held up on the pipes, although those used to showers would have to wait on those to be added. The bathrooms in the castle held only bathtubs, although a couple qualified as bathing pools. "The kitchen needs some updating, I think, but not so much we'd need to pay someone to do the spellwork."

"So where did you manage to find a place that size?" George asked, reaching the entrance hall. He held out the baby in front of the three, smiling as Harry plucked him up.

"The last place we looked. The main Potter place would have been workable, but this one's perfect." Harry led the way to the kitchen. With a last side-hug, Luna released Draco to follow. He called for a house elf to bring quill and parchment to the kitchen and fetch the other residents of the house. He wanted to show off what he remembered of what they explored, and his fingers itched to make a list of wizarding books that would assist in making the castle ready for their family and more.


	11. Absolutely Without a Doubt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luna and Harry realize their luck...

_Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JKR, of course. Just puttering around in her world._

Luna hummed softly to herself after handing the baby to Lannie, who whisked him away to the nursery. He truly was a content little fellow, fussing very little even when he was hungry or needing a change. She hoped it was because he knew he was loved and much wanted this time around. If they did find more people for Grimmauld Place before the move, she figured they could move the babies out of the nursery next. There was plenty of room for a crib or even two here in the master bedroom.

Pulling back the bedding, she sat down and pulled off her fuzzy orange socks. While fun to keep her feet warm instead of slippers, they were too hot to sleep in. She grinned at the feel of the soft sheets as she slid her legs under the covers, hearing the shower cut off. Retrieving her sketchpad off the table by the bed, she worked on plans for a new mural for the nursery when they moved to the island.

Lost in her sketching, she didn’t notice Harry leave the en suite bathroom until he’d reached her side and was looking down at the mural plans. “Looks fantastic,” he commented. “Are you going to do all four walls of the nursery?”

She nodded up at him and then patted the bed beside her. He perched on the edge of the bed, reaching out to touch a fantastically colored bird perched in the branch of a tree. “It’s Fawkes. I figured a phoenix to guard over the nursery makes sense, all things considered.”

“It is suited, even if he wasn’t reborn in fire.” Harry smiled at the drawing and made to rise from the bed, but she caught his arm, meeting his gaze evenly when he looked at her questioningly.

“It’s rather silly for you to keep transfiguring that tiny chaise every night, Harry. This is your bed too.”

“I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable,” he said, flushing slightly.

“We’re married now, and I figure we’re both dedicated to this until at least he’s grown, right?” She waited for his nod before continuing. “That’s a very long time to be sleeping on a transfigured bed. It’s an even longer time to stay celibate, since I can’t picture you drawing any negative attention to the family by seeking attention elsewhere.”

The flush that had begun at her statement about the bed was a full-on blush now, Harry’s cheeks deep red as he ducked his head and avoided her eyes. “Of course I wouldn’t embarrass you like that.”

Luna sighed softly, reaching up to lightly stroke his face, which made him look at her again. She smiled reassuringly. “I know we’ve gone about this all backwards from what you most likely expected. I suppose it’s easier for me, because even if my family isn’t really strident about following pureblood customs, I at least grew up knowing what they were. We have a far better basis for our marriage than a lot of those betrothals do.”

“Draco said…” Harry trailed off, teeth worrying at his bottom lip.

“What did he say?” She continued the light stroking, smiling slightly as she realized he was leaning into her touch.

“He warned me to be careful of your feelings, because he thought you’d cared for me as more than a friend since the DA.”

Luna let her smile widen as she nodded, feeling touched that Draco had been protective enough to caution Harry. It was something she’d expect of George, but the surviving Weasley twin had been protective as long as she could remember. Draco’s championship was new – and told her that he felt part of their little family as she’d tried very hard to make him feel certain of.

“He’s right, but I was happy to simply be your friend. I knew I wasn’t exactly who the Boy-Who-Lived should be noticing.”

His expression turned outraged. “There’s nothing wrong with you, Luna. Not then, not now.” He reached up and covered her hand in his, stilling the movement gently.

She should have expected such a reaction. Harry wasn’t superficial, even if he did seem to have a type that ran to pretty tomboys who played Quidditch. Luna was none of those things. “Do you care for me, Harry?” she asked softly.

“Of course I do, Luna.” He turned his face, kissing her palm softly. “I’m not really sure what being in love feels like. What I feel toward you is completely different than what I felt toward Ginny, but it feels stronger. I know the thought of you not being here makes it so hard to breathe I can’t think.”

“That’s how I feel too.” She enjoyed the warm tingle from her palm. They’d shared kisses since their marriage, but gentle, almost chaste ones that reminded her that she’d seen far more around Hogwarts when she’d stumbled across couples snogging. She knew she wanted to know what that sort of intensity would be like, but she didn’t want to make Harry feel guilty. “Sharing the bed doesn’t have to mean sex, not yet. But it’d make us become a lot more comfortable with each other, I think.”

Harry swallowed heavily, his green eyes intense as he met her gaze. “But is that what you want? That we have a true marriage?”

Nodding, she didn’t quite expect how quickly his lips were in contact with hers. He’d let go of her hand to cup her face between his hands, deepening the kiss as soon as she’d sighed happily and allowed it. She slid her hands to his chest, glad to have the excuse to touch him and indulge the curiosity she’d had for years about what he’d feel like under her hands. She found it far exceeded her expectations.

It also caused Harry to make a yearning sound, leaning into her touch. He ended the kiss, moving to place a feather light kiss just under her left ear. She gasped, the sensation of the kiss sending a thrill through her body far beyond what she was used to. Harry pulled away, gaze questioning, smiling when she flashed him a bright grin.

“I could really come to love finding out all the things that make you react like that,” he said.

“It doesn’t bother you that it’s all new to me?”

“Not at all.” He paused, caressing her jawline. “It’s brilliant, actually. Not being told what to do…”

She gave him a hopefully reassuring smile, realizing he was uncomfortable referring to his time with Ginny. “We don’t have to hurry anything, as long as you remember you don’t have to be shy around me, especially when we’re alone. I’m your wife, and I wouldn’t have accepted if I wasn’t okay with sharing your bed too.”

“What would you have done if it had been Draco instead?”

“He is no longer the bigoted child we went to school with. Perhaps it would have taken longer for us to become comfortable enough to share a bed, since we would have had to work harder to go from a shared life goal to marital partners without a friendship to base it on.” She closed her eyes for a moment, remembering some of the possible paths she’d dreamed. “I dreamed that we could have been quite happy. A bit of a different happy than we will be.”

Harry sighed softly, looking wistful. “Does what you dream always happen?”

She hesitated. Her dreams had been something she’d kept carefully hidden, even from George, Fred, and Cedric. Her mother had warned her that the mere possibility that what she saw in her dreams could come true could warp those around her. But Harry was family. If he slept beside her, there would be no hiding when – and sometimes what – she dreamed about.

Decision made, she shrugged. “Remember the spinning room at the Ministry? My dreams are a lot like that. One dream about a decision that’s needed to be made may spawn a dozen different paths. When the path is a dark one, it’s much easier to turn away from that path. But often, they’re bright paths or beautifully twilight ones. It reminds me of how few things are yes or no in life.”

“Like the prophesy?”

“Dumbledore may have thought you marching to your death was a foregone conclusion, but it wasn’t. He decided so many things for you and forced you down the path like a caged rat, and I don’t think I can ever forgive him for thinking he knew exactly what had to be done. His greater good was little better than Voldemort’s disregard for the lives of others.” She felt her anger rise at the thought of the late Headmaster and regretted that she’d not had the courage at a younger age to intervene.

“You don’t respect him very much, do you?” Harry slipped an arm around her, giving her a hug as he reacted to her upset expression.

“If it had been Ron and Hermione being marched to their deaths instead of you and Professor Snape, wouldn’t you feel the same way?” she asked softly, leaning into his warmth and letting it draw off the tenseness that had taken hold when she thought of Dumbledore.

“I guess I see your point. He didn’t do a good job of protecting his students, did he?” Harry’s voice was thoughtful, making her realize that he was finally starting to really mull over the Headmaster’s poor decision making regarding Hogwarts. “He knew Voldemort was desperately unhappy in that orphanage, yet he did nothing to help him. A Muggle teacher is required by law to report suspected abuse, but he just looked right by a lot of it, didn’t he?”

“He had all this power, all his reputation, and he saved so few. Hagrid is probably the only one I can think of that he actually saved, but even that was only a half-measure by giving him a place to live, rather than really finding out who was causing the attacks back then.” She tucked her face into the soft skin at his throat, shivering. “And he’s the reason you grew up where you did.”

Harry stiffened, drawing her away to meet her eyes. “Did you dream of that too?” he asked, voice becoming hoarse.

“The past is different. It arrives in bits and flashes, like fragments of shattered glass.” Luna felt tears prick her eyes as she remembered those elusive bits of past paths that had led to the ones she had actively dreamed of. A tear escaped as it became difficult to breathe as she remembered how dangerous that past had been to Harry’s future. “I’m so glad you kept putting your feet on the brighter paths, Harry, so very very glad.”

His lips were exquisitely gentle as he kissed the tear away, and then whispered against her skin. “I am glad too, Luna.” His hands slid into her hair, cupping her face as he claimed a kiss that made her wish she’d never need to break away to breathe, but at last he moved away. He kept his face close to hers, so that she felt his breath on her cheek as he spoke again. “Don’t cry for the past. Everything I lacked then, I have in abundance now, and you helped bring that to me.”

Although his words cautioned her not to cry, they only made her tears fall in earnest. Harry wrapped her in his arms as she cried, releasing all the fear and doubts and pain of the past year while safe in his embrace. When she finally had no more tears, he let her go briefly to fetch a warm flannel from the bathroom and gently washed away the evidence of her emotional overload. He guided her to lie down and to her relief, slid into the bed beside her, pulling her to him so that her head lay on his chest.

“Sleep,” he counseled her. “Let me guard your dreams.”

As she drifted off, Luna’s last thought was that if she hadn’t been sure of her love for Harry before tonight, this moment made her absolutely beyond a doubt in love with the man she’d married.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Erm, never realized I'd missed uploading chapter 11 before my one year hiatus of dealing with RL. It was on FF, but not here. For those who only read here, you'll get a bonus - Chapter 12 in a couple of days.


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